Gonna have my first mammogram today. I am feeling a little overwhelmed, a little nervous.
It's been a long time coming for this. I've been putting it off.
My physician ordered one awhile ago but I never followed through so ... kinda feel bad about that.
I mean I guess it's kinda hard because you don't really know what to think.
That fear of the unknown ... that waiting, waiting for the answer.
It's better to just not do it than to know that there might be something wrong.
One of my friends summed it up very well. You're kind of scared
because you don't want to know if there's something bad going on.
But at the same time the peace of mind you can have if you do is good as well.
You don't really hear anything specific but you just always hear everybody
talk about it in a bit of a derogatory fashion. They're always "Oh, I have to get my mammogram"
or, you know, nobody's ever running around going "Yay, it's mammogram day!"
Everybody says it's just uncomfortable, it's not painful, so I'm trusting my fellow sisters that that is the case.
I haven't had that many friends describe it to me which kinda makes me think
maybe it's gonna be really bad cause nobody told me.
Maybe there's this pact we don't tell each other how bad it's really gonna be so that people still do it.
Maybe? I don't know. So I'm kinda nervous about that.
Just ... I hope it's quick.
You know, it's just something that's gonna take a few minutes. It's not gonna last for a long time, so...
I know that it's probably going to be smushing.
That's about all I know about how it will be.
My grandmother was a little bit older than I am now when she was first diagnosed.
I remember her going through it. It was painful for all of us.
I do not have a family history of breast cancer.
With the my mother having had breast cancer, and then having a daughter myself...
You just ... you just wanna be there for your kids.
I know it's gonna be uncomfortable. I know it's probably gonna be painful.
But, I just, the peace of mind that could come from being scanned and clean
would be would be phenomenal and then if they did find something
hopefully it would be early enough that it's not gonna be life impacting.
So that's what I'm looking for.
I just had my first mammogram. I am feeling relieved.
I'm even feeling a little silly that I put so much negativity behind it.
I think it took longer for me to register and to get undressed than the actual mammogram took.
It was nothing like I expected.
It was over in a snap and it really was not as squeezy as everyone says it's going to be.
It was, like, so not as bad as I thought it was gonna be.
I thought it was going to be ... I don't know. It was slightly uncomfortable at the most.
It does not hurt.
It wasn't painful.
And I had heard that it was worse if you're smaller and I'm smaller and ... it's not that bad.
Seriously, I was in there for 10 minutes and I was done and it's over with.
I think people use that it hurts as an excuse maybe. Because it does - it is uncomfortable.
I think it's scary because you don't know what's gonna come back.
I'm just, like, why didn't I do this a long time ago? It's fine.
You know, probably the most uncomfortable part about it is, you know, you are exposing your breast.
But it's to another woman. My tech was Jeannie. She was amazing.
She talked every little tiny part all the way through.
She explained everything they're going to do, why they do it that way, what it's going to tell them,
lets you see the pictures as they come back and just kinda talks you through what she's seeing.
I have very beautiful breasts on the inside.
It just makes you feel comfortable and knowing what what they're doing and what's happening to you
I could see setting it up with a friend so that you wouldn't forget
and so you hold each other accountable. I think that's a good idea.
You can support each other. You can talk about it before, you talk about it after - what they experienced.
And then if something were to come back you already have a support system set up
because you've been there with your friend and they can kinda be there for you
because they were there with you at the beginning.
I've been trying to work to get healthy in other ways so it seemed like this was a natural next step.
Oh, you're gonna get a mammogram. It's doom and gloom. It's not.
It's not. It's, you know, not on my list of top 10 favorite things to do...
but, you know, just like going to the doctor and maybe getting your cholesterol checked
or you know having to get your heart checked. It's the same thing.
There's nothing to be afraid of. It's quick. It's not pleasant, but it's quick.
And just go get that peace of mind that you can have from from having that screening done.
You know, it's just best to be safe.
Just, you know. go get your mammogram get checked and then you're done.
For another year, at least.
See you in a year!