Taking control of your health
By Liz
March 12, 2010
This week on Monday, March 8, women across the globe celebrated International Women’s Day. In honor of this event, which is considered an official holiday in China, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, take a few moments to think about your body and your own healthcare.
There is no better advocate for your own health than you. Women need to listen to their bodies and have the courage to speak up at the doctor’s office. Last year, I had to demand a complete breast exam. I found a lump on my breast, and even though I was fairly confident it would turn out to be a cyst (I have a history of cysts), I still needed to check. After all, I have a family to support and I can’t take risks with my health.
My primary care physician referred me for a mammogram and an ultrasound. I had the mammogram and then was called into another exam room for my ultrasound. Because I could not locate my films from my prior ultrasound, the technician told me she could not examine me. She said without the films she had no baseline to compare against this exam. Then she told me to go home, try to remember where I had my last mammogram and make another appointment when I found them.
“I tried to find them before this appointment,” I said. “They are not at the facility I thought would have them and my primary can’t locate them either.”
“Keep looking,” she said and indicated we were done.
Not. So. Fast.
I had to be forceful and crystal clear with this technician that while it was unfortunate she had no previous films to compare, she would just need to start from scratch. There was no way I was leaving without my thorough exam that day because the conditions were not perfect. It was my lump, it was my healthcare, and I was calling the shots. And luckily, it was my cyst, and nothing worse, that caused all of the grief.
Celebrate International Women’s Day everyday by taking care of your body and speaking up when you know what that body needs.
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