Patient Check In Forms

Please fill forms out completely and bring them with you at time of appointment.

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Mammogram Check-In

EXAM PREPARATIONS

Before scheduling a mammogram, we recommend that you discuss any new findings or problems in your breasts with your doctor. In addition, inform your doctor of any prior surgeries, hormone use, and family or personal history of breast cancer.

Do not schedule your mammogram for the week before your period, if your breasts are usually tender during this time. The best time for a mammogram is one week following your period. Always inform your doctor or x-ray technologist if there is any possibility that you are pregnant.

We recommend you:

Do not wear deodorant, talcum powder or lotion under your arms or on your breasts on the day of the exam. These can appear on the mammogram as calcium spots.
Describe any breast symptoms or problems to the technologist performing the exam.
If possible, obtain prior mammograms and make them available to the radiologist at the time of the current exam.
Ask when your results will be available; do not assume the results are normal if you do not hear from your doctor or the mammography facility.

What to Expect

During the Exam

During mammography, a qualified radiologic technologist will position your breast in the mammography unit. Your breast will be placed on a special platform and compressed with a paddle (often made of clear Plexiglas or other plastic). The technologist will gradually compress your breast.

Breast compression is necessary in order to:

Even out the breast thickness so that all of the tissue can be visualized.
Spread out the tissue so that small abnormalities are less likely to be obscured by overlying breast tissue.
Allow the use of a lower x-ray dose since a thinner amount of breast tissue is being imaged.
Hold the breast still in order to minimize blurring of the image caused by motion.
Reduce x-ray scatter to increase sharpness of picture.

You will be asked to change positions between images. The routine views are a top-to-bottom view and an oblique side view. The process will be repeated for the other breast.

You must hold very still and may be asked to keep from breathing for a few seconds while the x-ray picture is taken to reduce the possibility of a blurred image. The technologist will walk behind a wall or into the next room to activate the x-ray machine.

When the examination is complete, you will be asked to wait until the radiologist determines that all the necessary images have been obtained.

The examination process should take about 30 minutes.