Getting a mammogram becomes vital once a woman has reached her forties, or earlier than that if she is high risk.
It can be an essential tool in screening for breast cancer and catching it in the early stages when treatment has a much higher rate of success.
That said, even in the best and most professional of circumstances, it is not a pleasant experience.
And to top it all off, sometimes an ultrasound of the breasts is also necessary.
As if a mammogram isn’t enough torture for one day.
Sarah Silverman’s experience
When Sarah Silverman went through an experience that raised the bar on just how bad an ultrasound can be, she decided it was time to take advantage of the situation and turn it into a lesson on confronting men in positions of power.
First, she started her Instagram post with when the radiologist opened her gown to apply the ultrasound gel.
She stated that he did not wear any gloves when spreading the gel on her breasts.
Next, she mentioned how he started talking with her about a chest x-ray she had also had, and how he did this while her breasts were still exposed.
She described the experience in more detail:
“Finally I said ‘Hey-can we either talk about this when I’m dressed or WHILE you’re doing the ultrasound? I’m not comfortable with my breasts out just shooting the shit with you.’
Even a doctor with zero experience would know that women can feel vulnerable when topless, even though they’re speaking with a healthcare professional.”
She pondered over if he was clueless, creepy, or something worse.
Finally, her story reaches the point where the ultrasound is being performed.
She talks about how his fingers were uncomfortably placed against her breasts during the exam:
“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.’
If he didn’t need to use his fingers he shouldn’t have done it in the first place.”
Talking about an uncomfortable experience
Many of us just grin and bear it instead of questioning when in an uncomfortable situation, especially if it’s in a health setting and we know what is being done may help to discover something as serious as cancer.
Sarah Silverman wants women to know that you don’t have to be silent. If you think there is inappropriate touching or that a medical professional is stepping over the line into being sleazy, you should speak up.
“It is his job to be aware that this is vulnerable for a woman.”
“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.”
We get the feeling we won’t be hearing about any more experiences with that particular radiologist, at least not from Sarah Silverman.
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