The downside of having a doctor who installed a new computer system is they l re-look at everything on your health history (plus you have to wait a little longer to get registered since they’re doing new scans of insurance cards, etc.).    The upside is they re-look at everything, including the fact that it’s been three years since I’ve had a mammogram.

Guess where I was this morning?  If you thought perhaps I was having my ta-ta’s exposed, adjusted, and smashed, you guessed right.  Thankfully the newer machines aren’t as painful as the old ones … yes you have to deal with the squish factor, but not the smashed-for-what-feels-like-five-minutes per breast like the old machines felt.

AND!  The rooms have become so pink-friendly that it was kind of sweet being there.  In the waiting room, we found a couple of clipboards with word searches, mazes and sodukus to entertain your brain while you wait.  There was a clipboard with the games in the actual mammogram room, as well.

I like how women are treated with care and understanding, with compassion and playfulness these days when having this procedure done.  I think next year I won’t dread it so much.  I will go back next year … there’s no sense in waiting three years again.

Christine Kane recently wrote about her experience when a doctor found something unusual during a regular breast exam,

When your doctor crinkles her brow while she’s grabbing your breast, it’s hard to hear the part about not being concerned.

So, during that 3-week mammogram waiting period, here’s the temptation:

Call everyone.

Get them to console you. Make them be just as scared as your most scary voices. Call your mother. Relax into the sound of her shock and sympathy and worry.

Fortunately everything turned out okay.  And for other women whose mammograms don’t come out clear, remember EARLY DETECTION is the key to breast cancer survival.

Go ahead. Get your boobs smashed.