Canada Diagnostic Centres

ATTENTION:

• Dr. Emil Lee, President, Canadian Association of Radiologists
• Canada Diagnostic Centres
• Calgary Womens Imaging Centre, Attn: Anita, Manager
• Consumer and Clinical Radiation Protection Bureau, Health Canada
• Medical Devices Bureau, Health Canada
• Screening and Early Detection Section, Public Health Agency of Canada
• The Canadian Breast Cancer Initiative/Society
• Health Canada
• Government of Canada
• Minister of Health
• Her Majesty The Queen

Mammogram/Canadian Mammagraphy “Quality” Guidelines

To Dr. Emil Lee et all the above organizations, PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO EACH AND EVERYONE AND AGENCY ABOVE!

My name is Mila Belic, born and raised in Calgary, AB. Canada. I was asked by my Family Doctor to go in for a 1st time Ultra Sound and if I was comfortable enough for my 1st time mammogram since I am now in my 40s and have never had the procedure done. My breast are in perfect health, large, natural DD, firm, dense and perky and I want to keep them that way, thank you very much! My Family Doctor suggested I get a “baseline” screening due to my age range and to then continue self-screening at home if the results are normal.

After much speculation, contemplation and discussion, I agreed and booked the appointment at the Women’s Imaging Centre in Calgary AB.

There are THREE distinctive areas of SERIOUS CONCERN with my experience.

First, the booking agent forgot to book the Ultra Sound as I ask and only booked a Mammogram, which was the first screw up to the whole process. So when I arrived to the centre, I was told there would be another 1 hour wait in the tiny change room at the Women’s Imaging Centre for an ultra sound. This alone is enough to make any woman, at least speaking for myself personally, first very uncomfortable sitting in a change room for an hour, second increase her stress and anxiety level by waiting for an hour after she just had her breasts squished like pancakes by a mammogram machine and third develop a strong aversion to the whole medical breast screening process in general. Thankfully my experience didn’t go that far since I never had the mammogram done in the first place. This leads to my second disturbing area of serious concern.

Second, after waiting in the tiny change room for at least 15/20 minutes for my appointment, I was brought into another room which had a large robotic breast squishing machine in it, called a Mammagraphy machine. Never seeing one before, immediately my blood pressure went up, I was anxious and nervous and just wanted to leave as soon as possible. The technician was very unfriendly and didn’t even acknowledge that this was my 1st time, nor did she explain what would happen or how she would do the procedure. She only told me that she would take “only 4 images”. She asked me to remove my smock and I immediately thought that was wrong. I told her that I would be more comfortable taking one arm out of my smock at a time. She said nothing so I personally stepped up to the machine and I gently placed my own right breast on the plate and then she told me to put my arms down by my side and she would do it from there. She then grabbed my right breast and pulled it aggressively further into/onto this plate without a word explaining beforehand what she was about to do. She then pushed a button that began the top plate to lower down above my breast for compression. After telling her that I was uncomfortable and that was enough compression, she told me that she needed to compress a whole lot more to get an accurate image and there was not nearly enough compression done. I asked her to stop and she released the pressure from the breast plate and told me that I wasn’t being cooperative and didn’t like my behaviour. I immediately grabbed my belongings, left the cancer causing radiation mammogram room, quickly changed back into my bra and top and immediately left the Women’s Imaging Centre as fast as possible, thankfully without a single image taken. First off, the technician was rude and had very poor patient machine-side manner, second she didn’t even have compassion or sensitivity that this was my 1st time having a mammogram, third she provided no insight or explanation as to what would happen and fourth the technical was very aggressive in handling my body to the point of pain and discomfort. Further, I was told that “4” images would be taken, I call BULL SHIT on that! It’s actually 8 images! Women have two breast so 4 images on each side adds up to 8. (4+4=8, in case you failed Grade 1 Math). Technicians shouldn’t sugar coat the amount of images taken, further each breast is pulled in 4 different directions, making sure every mm of the breast skin is pulled and compressed! Also from speaking to a number of my friends who have gone through this horrific experience, have given me nothing but horror stories of their mammogram experience. I personally was traumatised and felt violated by this whole experience that morning and I’m sure a man would feel the exact same way if this happened to him. I have spoken to Anita, the Manager at Women’s Imaging Centre, and filed a formal verbal complaint to her about my experience at the clinic and about the technician specifically. The fact is, the procedure is INVASIVE, INTRUSIVE, PAINFUL and UNCOMFORTABLE. This leads me to my third very disturbing issue I have with Mammagraphy.

Third, I would sincerely love nothing more and would have the pleasure to speak to whom ever developed and invented the Mammagraphy machine. I would bet that this person is a Male, am I wrong? Well he’s probably dead by now or very old but rich since there has been nothing better than the archaic mammography machine come out since it’s invention in 1966, before I was even born!
Let me make myself crystal clear! Until technology catches up to the way most women, especially myself, want to be treated and how they want their bodies to be treated, I will never and will never recommend to any female I know to have a mammogram. Until the day comes when a man, like Mr. Emil Lee, President of the Canadian Association of Radiologists, or any male in the medical profession or any male in general will insert his own penis into the mammogram machine and have his own penis squished like a pancake, then and only then will I do the same with my breasts. We all know that will never happen, so I suggest to the “ingenious” male or men who invented the mammography machine and their predecessors to go back to the drawing board, and quickly! Until you and your male counterparts come up with a machine that is NON INVASIVE, NON INTRUSIVE, NO CONTACT, detection machine for breast cancer screen, and you yourself would do the same with your own penis, then and only then would I consider a new medical breast cancer screening machine. You call it Canadian Mammagraphy “Quality” Guidelines? There nothing “Quality” about it! A mammogram is invasive, intrusive, painful and at the very least uncomfortable!

I would be very curious to know how much damage is done to breast tissue, to skin elasticity, to sensitive skin tissue inside and outside when the breasts are aggressively pulled into the machine and literally squished into pancakes or compressed to a very un-natural state for not once but FOUR different images/directions! I would love to have those answers, but of course the medical profession will not release that because they want to keep women in the dark about the damage a mammogram does to their breasts or basically lie and tell women that mammography is safe. Until then, I personally will gladly, as I have for years, touch my own DD size, dense, firm and perky beautiful breasts, myself and also have my husband do the same, which he is more than happy to do. BTW, my husband is 100% behind me and also feels that it is very sad that women allow themselves and their bodies to be treated this way and to be me mentally brainwashed by the medical health profession as it stands in todays’ world of breast cancer screening. Fewer men would allow themselves to go through the same treatment! I myself was raised by my brilliant father who taught me to be independent, assertive, ask questions, enquire about everything, confident young lady that I am today! No one has control over my body! No one, especially a man or men, can tell me that this is the best you can do in today’s technology for breast cancer screening. Is this seriously the best you can do since 1966!!

Again, until technology catches up to the way I and most confident, independent and strong women I know want our bodies to be treated, and further when a man will do the exact same to his own penis that he expects me to do with my own breasts, after that happens, then and only then would I consider any new medical breast cancer screening machines. I suspect the future is bleak in this case.

Suggestion, maybe you should have actual women develop and create a breast cancer screening machine as good or better than a mammography machine. I understand that an ultrasound is an alternative to the mammogram, but it is not as good at detecting breast cancer compared to a mammogram. So again I suggest going back to the drawing board and coming up with something that is non-invasive, non-intrusive, NO contact, where the whole procedure takes literally 2 minutes, for example like an X-ray machine, and do the same for breast cancer screening. And if you are a man, ask yourself, if you would allow your own penis being treated this way? If the answer is Yes, THEN AND ONLY THEN will I and suggest to ALL women allow the same to be done with their breasts.

Respectfully,


Mila Belic
Calgary, AB CANADA