Mammograms aren’t exactly an experience anyone looks forward to…but for anyone with breasts, they’re necessary.
That’s why it’s so important to feel as comfortable as possible during the procedure. Unfortunately, Sarah Silverman says she felt the exact opposite of comfortable during a recent mammogram.
Sarah, 48, shared an Instagram post about her experience, which she described as “shitty” because she did not feel comfortable with her radiologist (who also performed her ultrasound last year).
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I had a shitty time at my mammogram appt today. I have to get an ultrasound after my mammograms because I have dense breasts (insert joke here) and this radiologist — the same man I had last year — I do not like him and here is why: He opened my gown and put gel on my breasts and smeared it around with his bare hands. Then he started talking to me about my chest X-ray (I also got a chest X-Ray) and was pontificating with my boobs just out and covered in gel and cold and finally I said “Hey-can we either talk about this when I’m dressed or WHILE your doing the ultrasound? I’m not comfortable with my breasts out just shooting the shit with you” Okay so — he smears the gel on with his hands and NO GLOVES on and when he glides the ultrasound wand thing over my breasts he drags his fingers on them and it fucking bothers me. Again, AS I TOLD HIM LAST YEAR, I said “Hey! Do you need to be touching me with your fingers?” He said “No”. And he pulled them off of me. Then he added “I do that for balance.” I said “Well I believe in you and I think you can do with without your fingers on me” Look, I truly don’t think he was getting off on it, BUT it is his job to be aware that this is vulnerable for a woman. Wear fucking GLOVES – this isn’t a date. For him to be so arrogant that he didn’t even internalize the problem when I said something to him about it last year is obnoxious and probably a subconscious power thing if we’re getting deep. That was my last mammogram with this dude. Or any dude. Look. I’m a grown woman and I’m fine. But this guy does this with everyone and I know that personally it took many years into adulthood before I spoke up for myself. It’s uncomfortable and too easy to think it’s all in your head. And arrogant fucks like this doctor take advantage of women’s socialized instinct to not speak up. All this to say speak up. Trust that thing in your gut that tells you this shit ain’t right. ♥️
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Sarah explained her experience in detail: “He opened my gown and put gel on my breasts and smeared it around with his bare hands,” she wrote. “Then he started talking to me about my chest X-ray (I also got a chest X-Ray) and was pontificating with my boobs just out and covered in gel and cold.” Sarah says she finally asked if they could have the conversation during her ultrasound or when she was dressed. Finally, he started the procedure.
“He smears the gel on with his hands and NO GLOVES on and when he glides the ultrasound wand thing over my breasts he drags his fingers on them and it f*cking bothers me,” she wrote. “Again, AS I TOLD HIM LAST YEAR, I said ‘Hey! Do you need to be touching me with your fingers?’ He said ‘No.’ And he pulled them off of me. Then he added ‘I do that for balance.’ I said ‘Well I believe in you and I think you can do with without your fingers on me.’”
Ugh. Do I even need a breast ultrasound?
Basically, a breast ultrasound is an imaging test that uses sound waves to look at the inside of your breasts, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM). The test is usually used when a change has been seen on a mammogram or when a change is felt but doesn’t show up on a mammogram. It also can be used when you have dense breasts, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).
While it is normal for the radiologist or technologist to put gel on your skin for a breast ultrasound (the wand they use—a.k.a. a transducer—works with the gel to show a proper image of the breast), this radiologist in particular was in the wrong, according to Richard Reitherman, MD, PhD, medical director of breast imaging at MemorialCare Breast Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California. “Gel is applied directly from the container to the breast,” he says. “The transducer is generally the only thing that touches the woman’s breast.”
Dr. Reitherman also adds that it was unusual for both of Sarah’s breasts to be exposed. “The technologist or radiologist only uncovers the breast being ultrasounded at that moment. The other is covered. You never have both breasts uncovered,” he says.
Another important stipulation: Men aren’t typically allowed in the room alone with a female patient during a breast ultrasound. “The technologist is usually a female during a breast ultrasound,” says Dr. Reitherman. “But standard practice designates the technologist or radiologist, if they are male, cannot be in the room alone with a patient without a female supervising.” Oh, and the gloves thing? Technicians and radiologists typically wear them, says Dr. Reitherman.
So yeah, Sarah’s instincts were right—something was off. Sarah went on to say that she doesn’t “think [her radiologist] was getting off on it” but adds that “it is his job to be aware that this is vulnerable for a woman.” She also said this would be her “last mammogram with this dude. Or any dude.”
Sarah wanted to take this opportunity to encourage women to have a voice when it comes to how they’re feeling. “I know that personally it took many years into adulthood before I spoke up for myself. It’s uncomfortable and too easy to think it’s all in your head,” she wrote. “Trust that thing in your gut that tells you this sh*t ain’t right.”
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