You know you are getting old[er] when…

…your doctor states you are ‘now in the age group where mammograms are highly recommended.’ ::le sigh::

The process itself is simple enough – go into a cold room wearing nothing but a sheet, place your boobs on a cold plate, apply lots of pressure to said boobs, then hold breathe, scan, let breathe out, put clothes on, leave.

The pressure machine:

Kiki Gets a Mammogram

The full set of my little adventure can be found on Flickr, and I even shot a couple of videos…

One before going in:

One coming out:

Nothing too exciting, but I thought important to document the process as I read about women who don’t get these tests done out of fear of the process. Please do not wait. If you have a history of breast cancer in your family or are over the age of 40 – see your doctor and get the mammogram* done now.

* Thought for next time – when I tweeted I was going in for this test, someone recommend I check out Breast Thermography as an alternative to the mammogram. I need to do some more research on this, but I am all for limiting the amount of zaps my body takes in this lifetime.

UPDATE 12/22/08: Got a call from Kaiser today who asked me to come back in for a second screening as my xray was not clear enough for the doctor to give me a green light. Not sweating it right now – seems girls who have a little more in the boobage department sometimes have this happen as there is a lot of fatty tissue and they have no prior tests to compare against. So I am scheduled to go back in mid January – so wish me luck!