I am contemplating finding a new gyno but I am concerned that perhaps I am being unreasonable. I have dense breast tissue, had it since I was a teen. My doctors back then did a fine needle aspiration to confirm it. I then had annual breast ultrasounds because they said they wanted to keep an eye on the tissue & that mammograms make it harder to spot cancer in women with dense tissue.
I stayed on top of my ultrasounds but upon moving a few years ago, I stopped. I asked my gyno when I last saw her about getting back to doing an ultrasound. She said she saw no need to get an ultrasound & that I can wait till I turn 40 to get mammograms. I told her what my doctors said before about mammograms & she told me “okay we can do mammograms and supplement them with ultrasounds once you turn 40”.
I have now noticed a change in the area where the dense tissue is. Its as if the area has expanded. Am I being unreasonable in ditching this doctor & trying to find someone else? I’m in my mid 30s and its crazy to me to think I have to wait 5 more years till I can get the imaging I always had done. On the other hand, I also hate feeling like that person who thinks they know better than a doctor.
Comments
Always advocate for yourself. Find the doctor that’ll listen to you and tailor medical conduct to your specific health history and needs.
When I worked in offices that dealt with this, we would not order annual preventative ultrasounds and would give the same advice if everything was normal. That being said, I would advocate for yourself since you’ve noticed changes in your breast and find a new provider.
Doesn’t sound unreasonable. If you are in the U.S be careful how you word this with doctors. If they don’t feel it’s necessary they could code it in a way that your insurance could reject coverage. Having some proof of your previous medical history would help your circumstances.
I’m sorry, she told you that you could follow the regular medically recommended schedule, and you’re thinking about ditching her because you noticed a change and didn’t talk to her about it yet? You’re assuming that she’s going to tell you not to get a mammogram when she’s clearly going to tell you that more screening is necessary
It may also be an insurance thing. My mom needs the special imaging and every time she has to do a regular mammogram first before they approve and will allow the special imaging. Insurance does this to avoid doctors ordering and people requesting tests and procedures that are unnecessary but don’t bother to put in procedures for when it is a permanent condition/issue that will never change.