First Mammogram after treatment, not treated well
Comments
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I had my first 'follow up' mammogram on Friday...diagnosed last year, grade 3 1.7mm tumour...had lumpectomy, chemo and radiotherapy. I was very anxious and upset in the room when I was about to be 'put' into the machine thing for my mammogram.
The woman said "are you going to have a nervous breakdown?"...which came across to me slightly sarcastic and as though she was trying to make me feel silly for being so anxious.
What do you think of this? I mean, the fear of recurrance is very much a big part of our lives and very upsetting, as we all know..I am sure that going to have a mammogram is a very big trigger for anxiety and stress...why say to a woman in our situation "are you going to have a nervous breakdown" as though we should be calm and not upset?
Should I send a letter of complaint, which is what I am thinking of doing, or am I being petty??
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No, you are not being petty. I really can hardly believe someone would be so insensitive.
I would send a letter of complaint to whoever runs the diagnostic center. This tech needs to have a little training in patient sensitivity, at the very least. I''m so sorry this happened to you.
One of the reasons hearing about and dealing with my cancer was bearable was because of the caring women at the breast diagnostic center where I was diagnosed. I can only imagine how much harder it would have been if they hadn't been as unprofessional and rude as the woman you had to deal with.
Send a letter to the director and copy the radiologists on staff as well. Her comments were condescending and totally unprofessional.
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I agree! this was not a petty matter. I just had my first mamo after tx and the technician was very kind. It made a world of difference.Sosorry you had to go thru that, youdon't deserve it!
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I agree with both posters above, this was uncalled for and very rude...I would have told her right then and there...report her. She needs lessons in dealing with humans.
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Report her, but know that this is not uncommon. I was told that I had breast cancer, after a mammogram and ultrasound, by the technician, a female, with a POST-IT note! This is not as unusual as it sounds.
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I guess I am questioning myself - am I just over reacting to everything that every woman says to me as Ive become so fed up with all the insensitivity and ignorant comments from women who've never had breast cancer and gone thru it...I find myself thinking, what if she just said it without meaning anything negative...if I complain do I become the client from hell (the imaging centre where I had it done is affiliating with my surgeons rooms....and I already have expressed some problems with his staff. I would also like to send him (my surgeon) a list of suggestions and complaints so I suppose I worry that I will be seen as the psycho nightmare patient that just complains about everything. Thank you to all who've responded, it's great to hear your thoughts.
I was taken aback by her attitude as I said, and again, it just never ceases to amaze me the flippant and uncaring approach by women who've never had it to women who have!!
I was talking to a 'friend' from work the night before I had to have the tests. She's never had breast cancer, but as she is in her 50's she has the routine free mammograms every couple of years (dont know if that's how it's done elsewhere, I am in Australia) and when I said how stressed I was the reply was "well I know how I feel when I go to have mine"..."you shouldnt be so stressed...women who have had mammograms go thru worse they have to worry if it's already spread etc etc" - yep, and I dont!!?? I mean, just sheer ignorance, and comparing my follow up mammogram to her routine, never had breast cancer ones and saying that yes she's stressed about them but she deals with so so should I....does the ignorance and insensitivity from these 'experts' that have never had breast cancer never end???!!!
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The technician's remark was in poor taste but she may have thought a light remark like that would put you at ease. It's hard to say.
In any event, sometimes just letting go of the hurt and anger is the best response for you in the long run. Don't let it color your world. Maybe it's best to put it behind you and realize there are all sorts of people out there.
I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. (((rubyred)))
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Have decided to do as advised and send complaint letter. Anyone interested in viewing a copy please PM me. Here is a link to an article I am going to attach to my letter.
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where is my link??
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Well I couldn't read the article that you were going to attach to your letter of complaint so I can't comment there.
Also I wasn't there when the comment was made....but I tend to agree with abba that it maybe was a light comment.....that was inappropriate but not really meant to upset.
A letter pointing out that maybe the tech needs a bit more training on what to say may be in order but in my years dealing with bc I have become more tolerant of medical staff. They are like the rest of us and sometimes things just come out the wrong way. I probably would have said..yes I may be about to have a nervous breakdown..would'nt you in my position...or whats that supposed to mean??...they usually back off and apologise.
jezza
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Ruby,
I wasn't going to comment here but, can't keep quiet anymore. I have experience now on both sides of this issue. It is not easy being a BC patient going back for a mammogram, it is very stressful. On the other side, taking care of a BC patient is also very stressful. You know that patient is going to be overly stressed due to their passed experiences. That makes the patient physically and mentally harder to do. We try to size up each patient in about 1 min to try to figure out the best way to get that person to relax, sometimes we are bang on, sometimes we fail and fail miserably, alas we are only human too. My favorite trick to try to relax a patient is to talk non stop about absolutely nothing. I get these "do you ever shut up" looks, then I know my ploy has worked as the patient concentrates more on what I say rather than what I am doing.
I am truly sorry your experience was not acceptable, but I have sat here and read other threads trash the care that they are given. As healthcare workers, we are trashed all the time. We don't get patients in on time, we don't get our results to the patients on time, we are uncaring and unsensitive. There are policies and guidelines every centre must follow, they are not the same for each, but those are what we are to follow. After years of doing this, these are the policies that work the best for that centre and are the most efficient for all. These healthcare workers are compassionate people, we have to be or we would not stay doing our jobs with us high strung patients (yes we are all high strung whether you are a BC patient or a patient who has a concern) everyday. We know that almost all patients coming through our doors are anxious and worried, we do our best to ease that concern, but again we are only human. When you think to yourself, "do they have any idea what I have gone through" remember the same can be said for the technologist (yes technologist, not technician not nurse), you don't know what they have gone through personally themselves or professionally with patients just prior to you.
We are all only human, we all do the best we can. As patients we are trying to be our own advocates so nothing gets missed, I get that and that is very important but we have to have a certain amount of trust in our caregivers that they know their job. As a technologist we have to be compassionate but efficient, yes sometimes we are going to hurt you in order to get the result we need, it may just save your life. We don't get up in the morning and say how many ladies am I going to torture today.
So like I said, I can see from both sides now. As technologists we share our experiences with each other, discuss our "difficult" patients to further learn how to better handle the situation to 1. achieve better images and 2. make our patients feel more relaxed. We have training sessions all the time to better our skills, these we do on our own time. We are compassionate people, sometimes we sum up a person wrong and don't make you more relaxed, but don't mistake that for being insensitive or uncaring.
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Pk - thanks for taking the time to type out that reply. I agree....those people in the healthcare profession are mostly compassionate people. I don't know if I could do it. I asked my oncologist nurse who was so very nice to me "how do you do this, you treat a person one day and the next month they are no longer with us" I had a great respect for her and because of her chemo treatments weren't so bad. I can't remember her response because of chemo brain.
I know I have said things in the past that came off sarcastic, too direct, uncompassionate, etc. but I tend to speak before I think and I would never intentionally hurt someone's feelings.
Dealing in the healthcare industry or any industry you have to learn all of the personality types and how to deal with them.
I thought the nurse that was helping the pathologist put a wire in my breast was totally out of line and uncompassionate towards me when I was about fit to be tied before the procedure because I knew it would hurt like heck. However, when I was bawling my head off she was the one there holding my hand and trying to help me through it.
I complained in the support group I attend (through the American Cancer Society) about the fact that we are expected to go through these painful procedures without any medicine at all - I didn't complain about her specifically. She was only doing her job and following procedure.
I agree that written complaints are necessary at times but also very necessary is a written word of praise for an individual that has gone above and beyond to help us through this journey whether it be a surgeon, technologist, technician or nurse. So many times we are quick to write that complaint letter, we should just be as quick to write a letter commending someone for their efforts.
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I recall one time during all the testing and scans and pre op and such that one clerk who was registering me -- name, procedure, insurance info, etc --- bluntly told me that I would have to pay a co pay and asked was I sure I wanted to do this. I snapped back --- yes, I was snippy, out spoken, maybe even rude -- and said that it was not her job to question me that way.
My first mammo after surgery was stressful to begin with. Not allowed deodorant or powder, so sweat glands went into hyper drive. Suspicious area was found on the other breast, so a repeat mammo was needed with the super duper squisher in that area. I was wringing wet with fear, stress, anxiety. Then I was ushered into the "consultation room" and told I needed a stereotactic biopsy. I was given a phone # to call for an appointment and then "lost it". The nurse then said she would call and make the appointment and what day or time was best for me. That small consideration and out reach made all the difference for me. I needed a "plan" and I had one. Fortunately the results were calcifications only.
We each walk into these centers as an anonymous "number" on a file folder. I hate being so self centered to think that I am ONE person, ONE individual but that is exactly what I am. If I feel stressed, fearful, anxious --- I cannot be the first person to feel that way. I chose to DELIBERATELY go in to have my boobs squished --- as part of my INDIVIDUAL plan to keep an eye on it, get it checked, get some reassurance that I am ok. Please do not discount my fear or my worry or my anxiety. I have gotten "bad news" once and I cannot be "upbeat" about this at this moment. I know I NEED to do this but I do not have to like it. You do not have to like your job, but you did choose to do this today. Maybe tomorrow we can all sit around the pool or at the coffee shop and joke and laugh and be happy and smiley, but today I wear my heart on my sleeve.
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I haven't read all of the posts, but I think this woman was rude and what she said was nasty. My pre BC days I probably would have not said anything,if a comment like this was made to me, but now I refuse for anyone to talk to me like that.
She needs a good punch in the head, and then have someone ask HER if she was going to have a nervous breakdown now. B*tch.
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Thanks again to all for your input.
PK099, thanks for that, I agree with you that most health care workers do try. I have, in my letter, praised the sonographer who conducted my ultrasound straight after my mammogram; she was very understanding and compassionate. I have not forgotten to mention that.
I also understand that I have too said things that came out the wrong way. I guess what I have a problem with is that I feel that if your job is to conduct mammograms on women who have previoiusly had BC, you need to be super aware of the issues at hand - the extreme stress and fear that a mammogram can bring, and that if you are going to open your mouth you need to know that what you are saying is kind, compassionate and helpful. I dont really believe that asking me if I was going to have a nervous breakdown was any of those things.
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rubyred- I am very sorry you had this upsetting experience. I think it is a good thing that you wrote and lets face it - it isn't likely that the woman will get fired. So big deal, you wrote a letter.
I certainly agree with an earlier post detailing how difficult it can be to work in the cancer arena. The sdifference is, if it is that awful you can switch to another branch of medicine.
At the hospital I attend, some of the senior nursing staff are absolutely terrific and certainly on average better than the doctors/consultants in numerous ways, but quite a lot of them do come out with the most ludicrous, patronising comments. My hospital does cancer and nothing else and most of these staff aren't particularly young, so you'd think they would have got the hang of things.
The main thing is though, this is the place to come and vent and share your feelings. Thanks for doing that and thanks for writing that letter, because maybe with some further training that person will not upset others in the future.
Have a good week and all best wishes for the future -
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I think I may have been a bit misunderstood. As a mammographer, we do our job because we are passionate about what we do and there are not many of us, so when you say if you do not like your job move on, careful as the statistics stated and this is from 3 yrs ago, over 40% of the mammography clinics in the U/S closed due to lack of staff, that is why many of you wait so long for your tests.
Also, most of us are very careful in what we say to patients. What you say to one will settle them down into as comfortable place as they can be, the same thing said to another, will cause upset feelings and more stress. Have you never said something to someone that is meant with the deepest concern and it comes across totally wrong? Sometimes in the medical community we are damned if we do and damned if we don't.
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As a medical professional, I believe the tech would benefit from some sensitivity training and a bit of an idea that flip remarks are not , and never have been, acceptible.
I just adored and admired my second ps. went for a f/u after an unnecessarry implant replacement (MRI demonstrated a leak that wasn't there) and we discussed injecting some fat in a set of facial wrinkles and the costs, etc. Now, I've been smart alec from time to time---I tend to try to be funny when I'm at my most stressed. On the first visit, I advised him that I had fairly reasonable expectations of a repeat recon---I had given up my life's goal to become a stripper. We both laughed. I'm a big woman, BTW,
But when he left the room, laughing and telling his nurse,who was also laughing, he'd look very hard to find something on my body to use, he'd give it his best shot. Now, i can joke about my size ---but NO ONE ELSE better. I think we all have topics like that.
So---the tech may have been trying to lighten the situation for you, but obviously didn't. That tells me she either doesn't care, or needs to be reminded about professional discussions with patients. PERIOD
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See, damned if we do, damned if we don't! Again, I see things from both sides now and somedays it is easier to be the patient!
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Okay, don't get me wrong--I'm not trying to be hostile. But, I'm sitting here wondering exactly when it is supposed to become easier to be a patient with breast cancer, than a mammography technician (technologist?).
One thing I'll always remember is the comment made by the mammography tech who did my digital mammogram at the breast health center where my BC was dx'd. It was my first time there, after complaining to my PCP that my regular GYN doc was ignoring the long-standing lump I had felt. My PCP assured me that I would be "treated right" at the breast health center (part of a comprehensive cancer center at a university hospital). He was correct.
I think it was after the squishing, as the tech was escorting me back to the change-room (yes, I was escorted, not just pointed in that general direction of the building), that I made some comment about how gently she had treated me. I'd had previous mammo techs who were curt and un-helpful; I'd had others who refused to even touch my small breasts to position them correctly. This tech, though, was kind and compassionate. I had not been dx'd with cancer at that point, but it was clear she had met women with my look of fright before.
She told me that no one worked in the breast health center at that hospital if they did not show appropriate compassion for their patients. She said one of the main things that was emphasized when people were being interviewed for jobs there, was the importance of kindness and compassion. And, she said, the first time someone failed to treat a patient with respect and kindness, that person got fired. Period. End of story.
It has now been 19 months since my cancer dx, and throughout my treatment and follow-up care, I've continued to see that degree of concern for patients there.
ruby, I'm the type of person who will comment to a supervisor or write a note if something especially bad -- or good -- happens. My dh says my complaints create "ill will". I worked for 25 years in an environment where I was constantly being reviewed and my performance critiqued. Believe me, if I ever said anything harsh or disrespectful to one of my students or to a client, no matter how unintentional the damage was, I'd hear about it quickly... and my paycheck the next year might suffer accordingly. Admittedly, maybe this is payback.
You go for it, woman. Do what you have to do. You're the one who's dealing with the after-effects of cancer. BTW, my 2nd follow-up mammo is a month from now. Wish me luck.
otter
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I moved from one city to another, and I will tell you my last experience, The tech, kept praying during it some kind of words that a "sinner" has problems, my surgeon wants me to get mammograms of both breasts even that I had a mastectomy and later reconstruction; I always get a mammogram for both breasts. I also get an ultrasound.
I was dressing when a radiologist came in she told me in a rude patronizing way" Do you know a mammogram is not good for you?" Like a flash in my mind I thought "During the half hour drive to the hospital they discover something? I should know? I am an activist and advocate I am well informed"
I asked "Excuse me? The brilliant doctor:" Because you are getting unnecessary biopsies" My answer Really ? the only unnecessary biopsies were for my cancer, and for the microcalcification,and pre cancerous lesions!!!!! My doctor and I decide what is best for me! And I slam the door to her face.
I am very nice and polite but I had o learn to be aggressive with some health workers, I also filed a complain against the RN Tech and the Radiologist. I am very religious but nobody has the right to imply I am a sinner.
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Otter, I know you are not being hostile. I know I am being tempermental and overly sensitive. I am having more surgery next week and that is weighing heavily on me and has made me more emotional than usual. Sometimes though, I find it hard to sit back and hear my profession being trashed. We usually only hear the bad stories here and I get that. Something doesn't go well and we need to talk about it in order to move on. We so seldomly talk of our good experiences because emotionally it has been dealt with. I have always tried to be sensitive to my patients needs, more so now since my own experience. I know there are some occassions where I have said the wrong thing or have maybe not seemed sensitive enough, I am human and I am doing the best I can, my lack of caring or sensitivity in no way changes my goal for being there and that is to give the radiologist the best diagnostic exam possible so that a diagnosis can be made. For that I will make no apologies.
I do hope though Otter, that everything goes well for you and your upcoming mammogram.I do hope it is a digital exam as the technology is far superior.
I do hope too that you can all see my side here, I see the side of the patient, but I do see the other side too. I am sure there are technologists out there that maybe aren't as "sensitive" as we would like, there are people like that in every profession, but please, please don't think we don't care. Mammography is a tough job emotionally and we wouldn't subject ourselves to it, if we didn't really care.
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Ok Dreaming, I will admit to that one not being appropriate.
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pk0199, I just wish all mammography technologists showed as much sensitivity and compassion (and all that stuff we need) as you seem to show.
I believe 'most everything in the universe can be distributed on a bell-shaped curve. I know that's not true statistically, but it does seem to explain the occasional bad apple we encounter, whether that's a mammo technologist, a breast surgeon, or a college teacher.
[Note added in edit: And, thank you for your good wishes. I have no reason to think everything won't go well (don't we all). Yes, it will be a digital mammo; and my surgeon has designated it once again as a "diagnostic" mammo. I send you my best wishes for your upcoming surgery. It does become exhausting, doesn't it?]
otter
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Ruby, I cannot be as "diplomatic" as all the others with their answers. I personally think she should be removed from her job permanently and be switched to doing x-rays of rat butts. This is an extremely frightening mammo for us (which hurt like heck on a normal breast, let alone one that has been cut up once, sometimes cut up twice, poisoned and then fried) and if the person taking the image cannot be more sympathetic to us, she deserves to be fired. I am sorry you had to go through that.
Linda
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just to add to the stressful "afterwards" mammos--and I am one to stress to the max...my last mammo about a month ago was so amazing thanks to the tech performing the mammo. She actually had read my chart and chatted with me about my bc; she knew I was scared and TENSE. I had a death grip on the machine! She calmly suggested that maybe I could relax more if I were sitting down. So, she wheeled up a chair, had me sit, got me laughing--and for whatever reason, I relaxed...sitting down enabled me to lean more into the machine (verrrry small stuff for them to work with...) and, she was able to get better films of more tissue. I wrote her name down and will surely ask for her next time I'm scheduled. But, as to your specific situation--not being able to actually hear the tone and inflection of her comment, nor what you replied...I would have admitted that I was stressed out to her and probably burst into tears! I am not a medical person in any way, but these people are only human--not mind-readers. In her mind, you were just the next scheduled mammogram--nothing personal intended in her comment. While it came across as insensitive to you, it wouldn't have bothered me...hugggssss
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Linda,
Having a bad experience is terrible. But if we are to "fire" every person out there, whatever their profession for a moment or two of possible bad judgement, well, don't you think everyone would end up fired. Have you never said something maybe a little off or inappropriate at one time or another? Again, we are all only human and as such we do make mistakes. While I think it is appropriate for a letter to her supervisor so it can be discussed with the technologist and for the letter to be placed in her file, I think it is extreme overkill to fire her. No one died in this incident, lets fit the punishment to the crime.
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I have sent the complaint letter and this link: http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/cgi/content/full/65/5/842#FIG3
After sending my letter, I phoned a friend who had a mastectomy, the afternoon i had my lumpectomy; that's how we met. I discussed what had happened as per above with her. As we have the same surgeon, we go to the same place for our mammograms. She said that she had also had a bad experience a year ago, prior to her surgery when the mammogram showed that her cancer had returned. AFter more discussion, we realised that we were talked about the same woman that had done our mammograms. A year ago, she reduced my friend to tears, after putting her in the machine and her breasts in the clamps started berating her something to the effect of 'you are trying to project your fears onto me' and other garbage like she said to me; in effect making her feel silly for being afraid.
The head of imaging that I complained to contacted me this afternoon and thanked me for bringing this matter to her attention. She apologised that this had happened to me and assured me that she will address this matter / member of staff and the article that I sent will be used as a training aid for staff who conduct mammograms. I tend to think that this woman will not be giving mammograms in the future...I have told this woman about my friend's experience and she has now been asked to contact her to tell her what happened to her.
I am glad that I have complained and put an end to this woman's reign of tyranny over breast cancer survivor's who are going there to have mammograms and are just to stressed or too tired or too fed up to speak up.
Thanks to all who replied and gave support and encouraged me to complain. Otter, I wish you all the best for your upcoming mammogram.
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pk0199 I am going to speak on my sisters behalf !!!! On that February morning in 2008 my newly married 40 year old sweet, beautiful, sister went for her first mammogram!!!! There was a mass, she was not prepared to hear the news 2 weeks late she has breast cancer, she was not prepared to under go several surgeries to try and get a clean margin,she was not prepared to gon on her spring honeymoon to come back and face a mastectomy she was not prepared to endure 6 treatments of ac/ct, she was not prepared to loose her hair, she was not prepared to be so depressed and sick that she can`t get out of bed, she was not prepared to loose her job, she was not prepared for her marriage to fall apart,she wasn`t prepared to have numerous complications with her breast reconstructon, she wasn`t prepared to be thrown into menoupuse at age 41, she was not prepared to gain 45 lbs,she wasn`t prepared to take over 15 different meds a day, she was not prepared for the swelling in her arm, she was not prepared to have her entire life turned upside down! this is why she needs people like YOU technicians, and oncologists, hemotologists, breast surgeons, plastic surgeons, physcologists to be at your best no matter how difficult the patient may be, thats your Job!!!! your job is to make sure that my sister is treated with kindness, compassion and understanding, she needs answers to her questions, and answers she can understand, she needs sympathy and encouragement. If these professionals think that there words may be taken the wrong way, don`t say them, if these professionals are having a bad day, go home or better yet stay home!!! I say good for you Ruby!!!!
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I clicked on this thread because where I live, nearly every encounter I have with medical professionals at any level or specialty are people who give me cause for complaint. Ruby, I applaud your letter and your decision to send it. It's possible that the tech was attempting some levity that fell flat, but it clearly was unsuccessful. Bottom line, you weren't amused and the tech should have an ample toolbox of techniques to use for putting you at ease.
pk, perhaps things are better in canada than the US regarding compassion in the clinics, but truly, you are in a field with loads of complaint-worthy colleagues when the US is thrown into the mix. Have you considered the possibility of speaking only for yourself and letting criticism of others fall somewhere other than your own shoulders? There's no need for you to stress over the bad actions of someone else.
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