Mammogram

Had a Medtronic pacemaker installed 11/19/09, went for my 6 month checkup yesterday and apparently all if well. Aside from the fact that the pocket has shifted, which is ok with me, because I do not want another surgery. Hopefully the danged thing will settle into one place within a year, so I am told by the cardiologist. My mammogram was due in February but being the chicken that I am and having this PM shifted a bit, I wonder if it is too soon to have a mammogram. I reluctantly made an appointment to have one next week but still am a little reluctant to do it. I am told by the lab that they have people who just do mammograms for people with PM's, so I can hope they know what they are doing. However, I am still having pain in my left arm when I stretch it too far out to grab something in the frig or closet and its very painful - am told by the doc that it's a nerve doing that. Anyone out there had a mammogram within the first year of installation of the PM???
Comments appreciated.

Marilyn

5 Comments

Apprehensive....

by qwerty - 2010-06-02 03:06:26

I am a little apprehensive also. Got my PM on 1/25/10. I have a friend who does Mamograms, and she insisted that it would be OK, and that a PM should not keep me from getting a mamo.... but I have had one most years for the past 10 years (or more) and I think I am skipping this year, but then I have no issues. I think I am just tired of doctors for a while.
So, be sure and post after you get one and let us know how it went.

Pressing reason

by ElectricFrank - 2010-06-02 03:06:36

Tracey,
I thought all mammograms were "pressing". :(

frank

mammograms

by mtibben - 2010-06-02 06:06:50

I had a mamo 10 months after my pm was inserted into my little heart. Well I have not had another since. The tech was very rude and insisted that she could move it out of the way. I put up a fight and won. No mammo for me. Now to find a breast center with a tech who can be gentle with the pm area on my chest. I need to have one yearly, big history of breast cancer in the family.

6 mos

by Tracey_E - 2010-06-02 11:06:26

Six months is the standard amount of time to wait. If you're still sore, I'd hold off unless there's a pressing reason to get it done now.

I get mine done at a place that has techs experienced with pm's. I've never had a problem. The first time they did a very gentle scan first to see where the pm and leads are, then they did the full scan. I always go to the same place and they're digital so they haven't taken extra precautions since the first time.

I had one

by justme - 2010-06-03 12:06:16

I had one about 6 months after my implant and mine is in my left breast. I was very nervous thinking that it could hurt a lot or mess up my implant or something because of where it is (and i'm only 30 so obviously i was going for a reason). I was really suprised at how gentle the mammo was (ok, the whole 'let's see if we can make your boob pop thing was not all that comfortable), but the tech asked where the implant was and was very gentle in placing me and in squishing the left side. It was kind of cool to see the implant in the images, and I was a bit sore afterwards from the pressing on the implant area (as if I had worn a regular underwire bra with straps, which I usually don't). But overall it wasn't as bad as I had imagined that it would be...not that I don't think that if men had to do this every year there wouldn't be some walk through scanner by now or anything...
I would say that often times we aren't great advocates for ourselves, but if you go and your concerns are not addressed by the tech then leave and go somewhere else (if that isn't possible, then ask for the supervisor and another tech). I actually had to do that. The day of my appointment I had been having issues becuse of my age with the place that I had made my appointment and just started to feel really uncomfortable with going there so I called another place and got a same day appointment at the exact same time and left the first place to go to the second place. I am really glad that I did.

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