Adventures in Boob-Squishing

[saffronhare]

Today, I took the girls for our Very First Mammogram.

I was a little worried, see, because today is day 29 of my cycle. My boobs have been so very tender and overripe...squishing them seemed like something to avoid, you know? But I needn't have worried so much. Sure, it's not exactly comfortable. But I'm a girl who sort of likes rough play -- sparring with swords and rollicking, bruisingly good sex rank way above a mammogram in terms of "ouch factor."

Here are a couple of things that were fun (sure wish I knew how to code bullet points):

+ Shawnee Mission Medical Center has a special girlie place for these things. Nope, we don't have to check in with the rest of the patients getting things done at the hospital. No way. We get soft music and couches and sconces with scrolled iron and lots of issues of Oprah magazine. Plus, more books about menopause than one can count during a five-minute wait.

+ The nice radiologist had little heating pads on a the squishing surfaces, so nothing was cold. I am certain there is a special place in heaven for her. Also, she was very discreet about switching out the big plates for the small plates once she gazed upon my rack.

+ There are clear bits on the squishing mechanism, so that one can gaze down and speak comforting words to one's breast tissue. Okay, this is probably not at all why the bits are clear, but that's what I did. After I exploded into giggles of such magnitude that we had to redo two of the plates. My bad.

+ The little bruises forming on my chest are much higher up than I'd thought they would be. I mean, they grabbed flesh all the way up to my collarbone and out into my armpit. That's dedication. That's also, as the radiologist put it, "a lot of muscle for a woman...wow."

+ There is a nifty bit of the mechanism that releases the pressure as soon as the picture has been taken, instead of waiting for the radiologist to come back and unclamp one's boob. All positioning and clamping happens manually, but I greatly appreciated that automated loosening by the time we got to the eighth plate, let me tell you.


I think I ought to have a set of stickers to put on my chest. For one side: "Ask me about my mammogram!" For the other side: "Mine too!"

Really, I'm grateful for the amount of attention and care and education that got piled into my experience today, one which can be incredibly painful and terrifying for so many women, year after year. When I came out, there were a dozen women sitting in that tastefully decorated lounge, waiting to be called back for their own mammograms. Odds are, one of them is going to get news that will change her life and the lives of her loved ones forever. I offered a quick prayer, and stored the memory of their faces away for Saturday's 10-mile walk.

There are 15 weeks (give or take) until the Breast Cancer 3-Day. The mileage is beginning to pile on, and I'm building a set of prayer beads -- each bead represents a story, or a name, or a prayer. Please give me a call or send an email to my LJ address if you've got one for me to carry along the way.

To everyone who has already made a gift -- thank you! If you've made a pledge and still need to pony up, please take a minute to make your donation online. Just Click Here
to visit my personal web page. There's also still plenty of time to make a gift if the thought hadn't entered your mind until now...(grin).

If the link isn't working, just copy and paste this into your browser:
http://www.the3day.org/KansasCity06/nicoleturner?faf=1&e=550150482

Comments

[kittenpants.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting the link - that was a helluva lot easier than figuring out how I'd possibly remember to bring you a check.

(Note to self - set up automagic donation button for Gaia website.)

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Since you're a sponsor of one the the boobs, I'll see if I can get a copy of a picture for you. You know, once I get confirmation that Everything is Fine (knock on wood). You'll be so proud. :)

[diermuid.livejournal.com]

If everything is not fine, does the price go up, like a Picasso? 8-)

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

You get some serious dark humor points for that, man. Well done. :)

[womanofsalt.livejournal.com]

Congrats on successfully surviving first squishing with some grace. Not an easy feat. Good luck on your walk this weekend. Hope you are all fine and well.
Kisses