What Happened When I Got A Mammogram - an honest look at healthcare in Ontario

Here's what happened when I got my first mammogram 🍈🍈 + the insanity of what passes for healthcare in Ontario 👩‍⚕️ Links & timestamps below:
0:00 Intro
0:20 My history with cancer
0:47 The mammogram office
1:08 The aftermath of my mammogram
2:22 Sharing my family doctor's exam room 🤢🤮
2:47 What happened at my doctor's office
3:30 My mammogram results 🍈🍈
5:20 The next steps 🤬
5:55 Menopause ridiculousness
7:07 Outro

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[caroneast]

Omg. Sorry you had to go through this! So happy you are well though! Thank you for sharing and being so open. xx

[erinbanfield]

Many relatable critisms, being from Ontario myself, albeit another area. One thing that surprised me was the follow up appointment room. I don't think I've (luckily!) been in a hospital room or dr. office that bad. Hope the search for the new doc isn't too cumbersome nor take too long. Glad to at least hear that your mammogram results were good!

[TheRupertmcgee]

Wow! That's insane!

I live in the US with our messed up system, so I would have assumed Canada would be better about this stuff! When my mom gets her yearly mammogram, they just email her that the results and the full paperwork are up on the patient portal. It has a warning that you might be seeing results before your doctor sees them and you might want to wait for your physician to call to help interpret, but you can read it when the results are in. Then within a day or two the doctor calls her and says "hey it's all good!" It's how my hospital does any kind of test. They're bad about a lot of things like rescheduling necessary appointments several times and extra costs but wow.

I am so sorry the system and your doctor handled this so horribly! That's such a disaster!

[catcollinsattractingabundance]

Hi @RefasionistaSheri, you need to get yourself some fenugreek. You can use it in food, or to make a tea. It acts as a phytoestrogen. It will help with your menopause symptoms. (If any diabetics read this comment, you need to know that it also naturally lowers blood sugar).

[robertajanasz-nagle]

OMG what a terrible experience.

You are incredibly brave.

I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I really thought the U.S. was the worst at dealing with patients, but I guess it stinks everywhere.
However, I’m so glad it’s all normal.

The problem with female doctors is that, not only are they trained by men, they have to work under male rules. Here in the States, they have to follow a prescribed treatment, else they are open to a malpractice suit.

Regarding peri-menopause, you are not alone. Emotionally, it’s absolutely worse than menopause itself. Hang in there.

[elizlom]

I was surprised you don't start until 50, we start earlier here in the US.

[Jennifer_Lewis_Beach_Living]

Wow - I’m surprised that they made you go in the office to get your normal results rather than just tell you over the phone. That’s crazy.

As for menopause - I like your approach of finding a new doctor. If one won’t listen to you, find another one.

Also on the same subject - I’m in perimenopause, but menopause is definitely banging on my door because I get hot and cold flashes, my waist went up 1.5 inches even though I’m at my slimmest and lightest since my 30s, and just when I’m about to celebrate my period going away, it comes back 😡. There is a channel that I like that educates on menopause, including ways to treat it without HRT (those who have had breast and/or reproductive system cancers can’t do HRT) and diet and exercise tips since our body composition changes with menopause. Her name is Kari Ann Wright (channel name is the same as her name), and I think she’s a nurse (don’t quote me on that). She’s also based in Canada.

Although I’m not in full-blown menopause yet, there are a few supplements I take to manage the symptoms that I have now and to prepare for the symptoms that I will get:
- Menopause Support by Pink Stork
- Private Party by Hum (even menstrual women should take this for a balanced pH)
- 5-HTP for a mood stabilizer
- Sea Buckthorn Oil. I want to keep your comment section PG-rated, so I’ll tell people to look that up in your Google machine as to what that’s for.

[meacadwell]

Medical "profesionals" at their finest. Sigh. I've very sorry you had to go through that.

Since you haven't been able to get any help for your menopause, could you try an OTC menopause product to help? I've been using menogest by Swanson for several years and it's helped the depression, mood swings and hot flashes. Just a thought.

I hope you find a good doctor soon that will actually help you (in my experience, there aren't a lot of helpful doctors out there).

~Signed, an RA sufferer who's had it up to here with medical professionals that aren't

[pou]

Yikes that exam room was awful. Making you come in when nothing's wrong is awful. Government run medicine is awful.