"Relax" she says again, and I realize this might be her go-to phrase. "I am relaxed," I say. "I'm English. This is as relaxed as we get." She laughs at this. "Oh I need a good laugh in the morning," she chortles, unaware that I was deadly serious.
These are not my breasts
When you make an appointment for a mammogram in Los Angeles, particularly West Los Angeles, and specifically in Beverly Hills, you are asked first your date of birth and then "Do you have any implants?" This amuses me and I say something like "Not yet." Apparently over 50% of the Beverly Hills female population does. But I asked my breast technician how they x-ray breasts with implants. "Oh you have to be very careful, you can't press down too hard." Not like the sandwich press technique they used on me, then.
The machines are new, only a year old, and everything is now digital. A couple of clicks of the mouse and all of my pictures from the last five years were retrieved. I walked in at 8:00am and was out by 8:20am. Fake boobs aside, I am very fortunate to live where I do.
Do go have a mammogram: It's very easy and far, far less painful than your friends would have you believe. Remember, early detection is the best defense against breast cancer. For more information, do click here for the wonderful Susan G Komen Foundation, which has contributed enormously to awareness of this insidious disease.
7 comments:
Thank you for this post. hHaving had to be scanned a couple of times following the "I think we'd better just....." conversation, I would wholeheartedly endorse your sentiments. Fortunately I was clear, but the sooner found the more likely to be a happy outcome if it had been bad news. Another success for the beleaguered NHS
But on the upside of implants, it turns out that they can be used to identify your body in the event of murder (assuming your teeth have been pulled and fingertips cut off). Isn't that a cheery thought?
Henri, thank you. You're absolutely right and it is far less of a drag than one would think. Thank goodness for the NHS. Now if only the US could their act together on the health care front. Thanks for commenting.
xx Miss W
Mrs L, your cheery thoughts really do make my day.
xx Miss W
Am about to have mine, and it has been a while. Good to hear about the new technology! What women with implants need to know is it is very hard to read mammograms with implants and tumors can "hide"
The reason they can't squish them is because they rupture and cause no end of problems. My advice to all women DON'T EVER GET BREAST IMPLANTS!
June x
my spouse frequently goes to those people - I think they are called doctors - they seem to cost time and money
good for me and my fellow middle-aged males that we are perfectly healthy until we drop dead in a lifeless sack of cells
Good for you. I had mine a couple of months ago on the new digital thingy. It was clear! Yeah!
Bum, is that your bosom?
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