Mammograms

[anti_chair]

I didn't anything about this in the tags, unless it's under a different heading, so I need to ask everyone. Did any medical professional (GP, Endo, Therapist, etc) ever mention to you about getting a mammogram just to be on the safe side - moreso if you've never had one before

Comments

[raemaxwell]

None of my doctors have even mentioned that to me, but I get the impression that my team are extremely laisse-faire. They essentially leave everything to me and dont mention any of the risks to me, which.... is both cool and not cool at the same time.

You should definitely ask him for a reccomendation to a doctor he thinks will be ok with your gender status, and if it makes you feel better, he can probably call the doctor ahead of time and let them know your situation. He might think that all mammogram places will be cool with it, and they may be, but you are clearly uncomfortable, so he should be able to refer you to one he trusts specifically.

I agree that the ultimatim is not cool, but it shows he cares about your cancer risk and is determined to keep you healthy.

It probably wont be as uncomfortable as you think it will be. Most of these professionals do mammogram after mammogram all day long, and after a while, they have seen it all. Unless you do something outragious, they might not even remember you that well.

[recordplayeron]

I would ask for a recommendation. If he is giving an ultimatum, then that would be a reasonable request for him. As for the ultimatum, he wouldn't be the first doctor that I was made aware of who required patients get a more full range of care.

[gymx]

Are you doing your monthly self-exams? If you are, and (1) haven't found anything suspicious, (2) are not of an age where you're supposed to getting regular mammograms, and (3) don't have lots of risk factors, there's no reason to be getting a mammogram. I would go over this with your doctor and ask him to justify why he wants you to get one.

I've had more than one, for lumps that turned out to be fibroids, scar tissue, and some sort of cartilage bump on my ribcage. I've not had one in relation to any trans-specific medical care. Personally I found them less invasive than getting a pap, but your milage may vary. They go like this:

You go to a changing booth, take off your top, and put on a robe that closes in the front. You go into the machine room, stand in front of the machine, and a nurse discreetly positions you under the camera and squashes you in a plexiglass vise. It takes a minute or two to get all the photos, then you close the robe back up, change your clothes, and leave.

[pchlorotoluene]

I agree that the ultimatum seems a bit much. That said, if it's any comfort, it's not as uncommon as you might think for cissexual men to get mammograms (google it). So if you can't find someone explicitly trans-friendly to do it, maybe you could at least find someone who has experience doing mammograms on men.

[anti_chair]

Thank you everyone for your insight. I'm going to ask my best friend's mother because she's a nurse and may be able to let me know of a place that gives men mammograms. I'm not going to contest this because, who knows, maybe I may need this further down the line for something. If I went somewhere that also helped men, I'd feel exponentially better.

[xftranny]

Just know from the RN writing this to you right now that your endo threatening your T with this is ethically wrong. Unless it was disclosed to you before you started with him. An endo in my neck of the woods requires a pap pre-T and discloses it before seeing someone so people either decide that's okay or not. He's by far not the only trans friendly endo in the area. I have a problem with anyone who offers care deciding procedures for you in order to help you with something else. Gatekeeping isn't cool and neither is a blatant disregard for harm reduction. Since plenty of people get to walk around until they die deciding not to get a mammogram, as is the right of anyone else.

Okay, I had to say it :-P

Best of luck

g