Mammogram Question

Wow... I mean, OWWW!!!  No way. 

I've had 4 mammograms since my mast/SNB (no recon) in 2008.  Each was ordered as a "diagnostic" mammogram, and was done digitally.  Never once did my BS or the mammo tech hint at squeezing my mast side between those plates.  In fact, the orders always specify the mammogram as being done on my right breast; and the tech usually says (cheerfully), "This won't take long, because we only have to do one side!".

OTOH, I know there are others here who would tell a different story.

otter

I have heard that some women do get mammo on mx side. When I went for my last mammo she noted that there was not enough "meat" there also so she wouldn't even try. I had it in my mind that I would refuse a mammo on that side anyway - still quite tender.

I too do not see how what's left in my breast area could possibly be placed on that paddle and compressed.  I would refuse not only from a comfort or practical standpoint, but because my cancer eluded a mammogram just 8 months prior and even at diagnosis when it was visible and palpable was read as inconclusive on the mammogram.  Not to discourage others, but just my experience.

I don't have it done on the mast side either.  Not sure how that would even work.

I keep getting letters in the mail from the "mamogram place" reminding me to make an appt. Maybe I shouldn't be throwing them away. They couldn't even get my breasts, when I had them, in between those darn compression plates & get a decent enough picture to show tumors. I don't have any loose tissue, so I'm not making an appt. I did read on another thread awhile back, that in some parts of Canada(Nova Scotia I think), they do mamograms on non-reconstructed mastectomy sites.

@curlygirly, when I was first diagnosed I was given a video to assist in choosing between lumpectomy and mastectomy, and it included the same statistic, i.e. that about 8% of women who have mastectomy have cancer recur in the breast or breast area, compared to 10% of those who have lumpectomy & radiation (this is in the ten years following surgery). IIRC the video said this is a broad average based on a large number of studies including many hundreds, maybe even thousands, of women. So I don't think the tech was merely using a scare tactic, and if it is possible to get tissue from your underarm area onto the paddle why not screen it? I can tell you it's possible to get breast cancer there too...that's where mine is. I don't remember that I ever had a mammogram that included the tissue way around in the armpit until after my diagnosis. I did have one then, and for me anyway it wasn't any more painful than an ordinary mammogram.

CurlyGirly, the stats I read (in more than 1 place) said local recurrence after mx is 3-4%. U/S or MRI are better imaging for post-mx site.

I don't think I'd trust that tech all that much - the most common site of local recurrence is the scar area, not the axilla, especially for someone like you with a complete ALND. And why in the world did she say you couldn't come back and have it done another time? She sounds like a my-way-or-the-highway type.

Best of luck. Ask your doc about an U/S if you're worried.

Leah

CurlyGirly, I'm glad you doc will deal with this tech.

Why am I not surprised that there have been other complaints about this tech?

Leah

I had bilateral mastectomies.  My oncologist told me, "No more mammograms for you." 

After I had delayed reconstruction with silicone implants, the oncologist still says no mammograms.