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"So how many boobs did you squash today?" This was the same question I faced whenever I met with this young man in his mid twenties. Every time I wanted to wipe off that grin from his face and put on a frown of thoughtfulness instead. Every time I heard that question from him one of my patients from that day stood in front of my eyes. The anxiety on their faces, the nervousness in their voices came into my thoughts. So, one day when I met with him at one of the meetings, I said," I got something for you as a gift. But you have to promise me you won't turn red when you look at it." He promised he wouldn't. So I gave him my gift. It was the copy of a cartoon printed in one of the papers that had a man's private parts being smashed into a mammography machine. On the top it said, "If women controlled medicine." In the bottom it said, "Manogram". Sure enough my young colleague turned red in his face. I said, "See, that's how it feels to have a mammogram. And now you know it", I walked out feeling a sense of triumph. That evening I got an email. It said,"No manograms for me please. I got your point. No more boob jokes."
The suffering that is endured mentally and physically before, during and after a mammogram appointment is tremendous for many women. Over the years I have seen patients who just threw their large breasts onto the mammography plate and told us to compress as much as we wanted to and patients who were dumbstruck with fear and would not move a single step forward toward the machine. I have seen women taking it easy and telling me that it doesn't hurt to be compressed and I have seen women, especially the ones who came for a baseline mammogram absolutely petrified to be there. It is the fear of being compressed that gets most of the women rather than the results later. Having a mammogram is worse than going through childbirth, I was told by many patients over the years. They would rather go through that than this. What is that, that frightens these women for coming to get a life saving exam so much? There are several factors involved:
1. Tales about the compression from neighbors, co-workers or friends. This is the first and foremost reason many women avoid or put off the exam for the first time for as long as they could. Some women in their 70's and 80's have come for a baseline mammogram in my experience.
2. Technologists who learned doing mammograms the old school way still believe in compressing the breasts till the patients either break into tears or scream with pain.
3. The front desk staff is under pressure to register the patients. The greetings at the front end of the facility are not well communicated to make these patients comfortable.
4 .Horror stories about compression, first experiences, breast cancer, biopsy or lumps are shared among patients while waiting in the front office.
5. Problems with insurance companies to cover some of the procedures that are necessary to perform.
6. Some of the mammography centers' staff that are either rude or do not answer questions that the patients might have.
7. Waiting period for the results literally for two to three weeks gives patients' imagination food for fear.
8. The results that come are not conveyed by some of the mammography centers properly, therefore, creating a sense of anxiety in patients.
With all of this in mind, it was only natural that I reacted the way I did with the young gentleman's repeated question. I wanted him to know how hard it is to go through such an experience for a woman. I wanted to make him aware of the consequences women face going through this single exam. I wanted him to understand this is one exam that could change a woman's life forever. I don't know if I conveyed all these messages to him since he was too young to understand but I was pretty sure that he will never look at this lightly.
I believe with proper communication and education about mammography, many men would be sympathetic towards their significant others' ordeals. Timely information about mammography, reports, diagnosis will help them not to take it lightly when serious situations arise. Information on lumps, biopsies, mastectomies, radiation therapy, chemo should be communicated to men with their other halves' hardships in dealing with life changing events. When it comes to taking care of a woman in crisis the man involved will play an important role and it is our duty to make them understand because, OUR LIFE MATTERS.
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