According to the American Association of Cancer Research, half of women who could get mammograms don’t get them.
If mammogram anxiety is keeping you or someone you love from getting a mammogram, here are some tips to share with women who are eligible for the screening.
- Schedule your mammogram for the first two weeks of your menstrual cycle when your breasts are less tender. The compression during the exam will be less uncomfortable that way.
- When you call to make the appointment, get the mailing address in case you need to send any previous mammograms in advance of your appointment. Find out the exact physical location of the building and ask where to park.
- Plan a fun activity to follow the mammogram, but make sure that it is one with a flexible start time since you won’t be able to control how much time your visit to the radiology department will take.
- The night before the exam, pack your insurance card into your purse and review your breast health history, including all procedures and screening exams since you will be filling out a history sheet in the office before your mammogram. Also, check your calendar and write down the date of your last menstrual period—you will be asked for it.
- Plan to wear a shirt that won't wrinkle when it's folded into a plastic bag and left there for a couple hours.
- Pack your deodorant into your purse the night before your mammogram. This way you won’t risk applying it out of habit before your appointment and it will be in your possession after your appointment when you are getting dressed the second time that day.
- Eat breakfast the morning of your mammogram. Even if you're scheduled for eight o’clock and think you’ll be at the bagel shop by nine o’clock, eat at home. You never know what delays could occur or what additional tests could be performed over the course of the morning. Stress plus an empty stomach is a recipe for a bad experience.
- Take a portable music player. I say this for two reasons. One, you will make yourself unavailable for chitchat with well-meaning people who will try to strike up a conversation with you but who may only stress you out more with their own story. Two, you will be able to drown out the audio of the TV in the waiting room that may be blaring something that could zap your positive attitude.
- Take your own reading material. I once flipped through a waiting room magazine and found an ad memorializing a breast cancer victim; the ad only made me worry more.
- When your visit in radiology is over, be certain that you completely understand when you are supposed to return to the clinic for your next appointment. Mark that date on your calendar as soon as you return home.
Pink.
It’s not even a question.
-Tyler, Supa, Ballard
