Has this happened to anyone? Lumpectomy and airport security

I don't know the answer to your question, but I was wondering how to handle wearing a prosthesis at the airport.  Do I wear it or not?  And, do I tell a TSA agent?  Just wondering what others have done.

samething happened to me, i finshed rads in july and flew the begining of sept and got a patdown after each bodyscan x4, i wondered if the rad "exposure" was what was triggering it.

The fact that people put up with this in a free country is amazing to me.

Headline: "Europe Bans X-Ray Body Scanners Used at U.S. Airports"

The European Union on Monday prohibited the use of X-ray body scanners in European airports, parting ways with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, which has deployed hundreds of the scanners as a way to screen millions of airline passengers for explosives hidden under clothing.The European Commission, which enforces common policies of the EU's 27 member countries, adopted the rule "in order not to risk jeopardizing citizens' health and safety."

When will the US get a clue and follow suit? Why do people act like lemmings and tolerate their own government viewing them naked and humiliating them?

here here chrissy,  the women that patted me down were professional and courteous

Just what is the exposure in those body scanners? I think the tiny titanium chips that are placed at biopsy prior to surgery are too small to set off airport security but might be wrong. 

From 2005-2008 I did quite a bit of traveling in Europe and Britain, US and Canada. In Europe they seem to have a more focused idea of what they are looking for and don't subject everyone to so much inspection. Then you hit American custom and immigration and you get patted down like a criminal in full view of crowds of people. I like to feel safe but this kind of thing strikes me as ramping up more fear than providing a sense of safety. 

My onc told me to refuse the body scanner.They are too new.No one knows the SE's from them.Especially if you travel alot like I do.Last time I refused they just gave me a quick patdown.No big deal.

I recently flew home from Tampa.  When I saw I was in the body scanner line, I tried to move to another line but they stopped me.  I told them I would NOT go through the scanner so they brought up a female security agent.  There was a chair in the middle of the TSA area that everyone going through security had a clear view of....I guess they wanted all to see what happens when you refuse to be scanned, though she did ask me if I wanted to be patted down in private.  I said no, I had no problem with doing it in public. The agent was a very nice woman...she explained how she would be touching me before she did it. 

I don't care how many times the government tells me that the radiation is minimal and won't hurt me - I was told the same thing about hormone replacement therapy.  I am the only one in my family who took HRT and the only one with breast cancer.....I am not going to be exposed to the radiation on a full body scan. 

 And, yes Windlass, you are right...it is amazing what we - in a free(?) country - will put up with.

BTW, I had a friend on one of the planes that crashed on 9/11. He was a father, husband, friend and pastor from Illinois.  I do not mind the additional security at the airports.  Maybe if they had had more security in 2001, he would not have died.

Phyllis

"I do not mind the additional security at the airports. Maybe if they had had more security in 2001, he would not have died."

My condolences. However, there is no indication that this particular security would have changed things. They had box cutters. The box cutters would have showed up on a metal detector, if on their person. We wouldn't need an x-ray.

Furthermore there were real indications of planning for the 9/11 attacks prior that were ignored by security officials. If they had been paying attention, the attacks could have been prevented.

I agree that it can be worth it to make sacrifices to prevent violence. However, we have to feel confident that (a) those sacrifices will actually make a difference, and (b) the cost of those sacrifices are worth the cost of the violence they might prevent. In this case, the cost of scanners includes a possible risk to many lives, not just of travellers but of the security agents standing next to the scanners day in and day out. And the cost includes a loss of privacy and a loss of some freedom to travel. Are those costs worth it?

To clarify, not all of the body imaging machines involve radiation. The millimeter wave machine uses radio waves and is radiation free. So it's possible that's why she said there was no radiation. I've tried to look up the type of scanner at each airport I visit so I know whether or not we'll be asking for a pat down (of course both machines have privacy concerns).

Here's an article describing the difference between the two and how to recognize each: http://blog.tsa.gov/2008/05/which-is-it-millimeter-wave-or.html

If we're going to do body imaging, I don't know why we couldn't just universally use the version without radiation, since it exists.

Could they have left a titanium clip in to mark another area?

English Major - I'm so sorry you had to endure that horrid airport security experience. What sort of society have we become that we accept that people will be humiliated in front of a captive audience such as in airport security line in the name of security?  What did that male security guard think he was dealing with, a woman whose breast was going to explode? Sometimes the level of ignorance is mind-boggling. 

I have never had a problem going though security at the airports, but I wouldnt mind it as others have said, my safety and the safety of others is more important. Women and children, not just men have been known to try to carry things through the airport. I feel better just knowing they are doing more to prevent what happened during 911

However, there is no reason to be treated with the harsh way some of you have been treated, they need to take a class on sensitivity and do this in private.