What an interesting post. While I haven't always been annual on the dot, I too have gotten mammograms fairly religiously since 40.
I wonder if the fear and anxiety are mostly (a) over the mammogram itself, how it works/feels and whether it hurts, or (b) over what might be found. I know in the beginning when I got mammograms, every time a nurse raised an eyebrow or asked for a second look (oh no!) I was sure it meant bad news. Now that I've had several, I know that's all routine. But we all hear so much about breast cancer that perhaps women are just plain scared of what someone will find. Information is good, but maybe too much information is scary for some.
I think if I had a dear friend who just wouldn't go, I'd be like you and put on the full-court press. I'd probably ask her to lunch (with a glass of wine!) and somewhere in there, turn the conversation to this topic, gently, and explore what's going on. Somehow, someway, I would hope that before the lunch was over, I'd have convinced my friend to go. Perhaps by committing that we'd go together, which would let me set the appointment and get the plans made.
Maybe some women will weigh in here on their fears and anxieties, and tell us what would help them get that first mammogram into their appointment book.
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Michelle,
What an interesting post. While I haven't always been annual on the dot, I too have gotten mammograms fairly religiously since 40.
I wonder if the fear and anxiety are mostly (a) over the mammogram itself, how it works/feels and whether it hurts, or (b) over what might be found. I know in the beginning when I got mammograms, every time a nurse raised an eyebrow or asked for a second look (oh no!) I was sure it meant bad news. Now that I've had several, I know that's all routine. But we all hear so much about breast cancer that perhaps women are just plain scared of what someone will find. Information is good, but maybe too much information is scary for some.
I think if I had a dear friend who just wouldn't go, I'd be like you and put on the full-court press. I'd probably ask her to lunch (with a glass of wine!) and somewhere in there, turn the conversation to this topic, gently, and explore what's going on. Somehow, someway, I would hope that before the lunch was over, I'd have convinced my friend to go. Perhaps by committing that we'd go together, which would let me set the appointment and get the plans made.
Maybe some women will weigh in here on their fears and anxieties, and tell us what would help them get that first mammogram into their appointment book.
June 10, 2009 - 10:09amThis Comment
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