I am 36 years old and according to Kaiser I should not get a mammogram until I am 40. Standard procedure with Kaiser is that unless you have a mother or a sister who has had breast cancer, they do not order mammograms when you are under 40 years old. Now I know a lot of people bad mouth Kaiser. I did too when I was living in Los Angeles. In fact, I was a Blue Cross member when I lived in LA because Kaiser seems to be crappy. 7 years ago, I moved to Northern California and had the option of going with Kaiser. If you don’t know, Kaiser was founded in Oakland and is a Bay Area staple in terms of health care and preventative medicine. In the 15 mile radius between work and home, there are 4 Kaisers. I have gotten good care at Kaiser and like it.
About a year ago, I spoke with my OBGYN about my family history of breast cancer and if I should get mammograms sooner than the 40 year old requirement. I mean, come on, my mother’s mother had breast cancer at 69 and my mother’s sister had breast cancer at 42. You would think that would be enough of a “strong family history” for Kaiser to offer a mammogram to me before age 40. It wasn’t but I trust my doctor so no mammogram for me. Fast forward a year and my mother’s cousin is diagnosed with breast cancer at age 60+. That makes three female members on my mother’s side to have breast cancer. I think that family history is strong enough now.
About a month ago, I had a conversation with my mom about getting a mammogram. Again, I trust my doctor but my mom wanted me to be safe so I said I would get a mammogram. My doctor was out of the office until early October so I had to wait until she got back to contact her about scheduling something. I e-mailed her recently, mentioned a third family member had breast cancer and I wanted a baseline mammogram just to make sure that everything was ok. She e-mailed back the following morning and said she would contact Radiology with the request. Radiology e-mailed the same morning, about three hours later, saying that I should make an appointment with them. I contacted Radiology by phone and was asked why I was having a mammogram when I am not 40 yet and there isn’t a direct family member history of breast cancer. I explained why and that my doctor had sent the request in that morning. From there, it was smooth sailing and I got an appointment for that afternoon.
I was in and out of Radiology within 30 minutes of my appointment time. That seems unheard of with any doctor’s office. The technician who did my mammogram was fantastic. She explained what she was going to do and how the procedure works. All I knew about mammograms is that your boobs get squished. I didn’t realize that I was practically going to be doing yoga while that was happening. “Turn this way, look that way, place your hands here, keep your feet facing front but turn your head to the side, bend your elbow, now hold your breath”. Yes, that’s right, hold your breath while metal plates are compressing your breast tissue as much as you can stand while the technician takes the x-ray. The plates are released, the technician tells you to breathe and then makes sure that the image is a good one. I did this four times…two times per breast, once up and down and once side to side.
When we were finished, I was told I would get the results within two weeks in the mail via a postcard. The technician warned me that I might be getting a phone call to come in and take more pictures. She said this so that I would not be alarmed if I got a phone call. She saw my strong family history of breast cancer and knew that if I got a phone call without any warning I might freak out. She was so right!!! She said there were two big reasons why I might get a phone call. Reason #1: There aren’t any other pictures to compare my results to so taking additional pictures from other angles or doing an utrasound might be necessary in order to have the comparision shots. Reason #2: I have large breasts and sometimes with large breasts it is difficult to get an accurate reading because of the amount of breast tissue. I might need to take more pictures using “smaller paddles” over more surface area of my breasts. I am very glad she warned me about getting a phone call because I would have freaked out!!
Honestly, I believe this experience was so positive for me due to the wonderful staff at Kaiser. I had really only heard negative things about mammograms if I heard anything at all. No one talks about it. The Komen organization is about education, awareness and demystification of women’s health related issues surrounding breast cancer. I wanted to use my experience with my mammogram to do all three of those things. The unknown is a bit scary but breast cancer is much worse than the unknown. Find out about your breast related health by getting a mammogram!!! | 
