Sarah Silverman Just Posted About Her VERY Creepy Breast Ultrasound Experience
Sarah Silverman says her radiologist didn't use gloves during a breast ultrasound following her mammogram.
According to Sarah, the entire experience was "sh*tty," and she won't be going to another male doctor for an ultrasound again.
Sarah took this opportunity to urge women to speak up in situations that make them feel uncomfortable.
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).
A post shared by Sarah Silverman (@sarahkatesilverman) on Feb 6, 2019 at 3:53pm PST
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), neither the ACS or the NLM share any specific guidelines regarding using gloves.
But-and this is a big but-that doesn't mean Sarah's feelings are any less valid. 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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