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Kimmy Phuong Hoang has helped hundreds of women get their first mammograms. But when it came time to get one herself, she was scared. Learn how she overcame her fear and why she says regular screenings are so important.

Mammogram technologist Leslea Boyle knows that regular breast screening saves lives -- because it saved her mother's life.

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Meet The Woman Behind The Machine

Mammogram technologist Leslea Boyle knows that regular breast screening saves lives -- because it saved her mother's life.
By Blake Eligh

Leslea Boyle is on a mission to save your breasts. In the past decade, the bubbly mother of two from Stoney Creek has performed thousands of mammograms, splitting her time between Ontario Breast Screening Program clinics in Burlington and Hamilton. But her work became very personal when a routine mammogram saved her mother's life.

Eight years ago, Leslea's mother, Doreen Guindon, who was then 57, had a mammogram that showed a tiny problem in her right breast. The speck on the image was so tiny that even her doctor had trouble finding it through a manual exam. But because of that routine mammogram, the problem was caught early, and Doreen got the treatment she needed. Now 65, Doreen has been cancer-free for seven years.

Her mother's experience solidified the importance of regular breast screening for Leslea. "It was my mother's breast, but it affected our entire family," she remembers. "It made me realize that what I'm doing is very important. We want to save women's lives -- to find cancer in its earliest stages."

Leslea does her best to help women who come to her for their first mammograms overcome the most common worries -- that it will hurt, that the process will be embarrassing, or that the images might turn up a problem. "Mammograms are like childbirth stories," she jokes. Everyone has a friend of a friend who had a bad experience. "So many women have no idea of what to expect, which can make them afraid."

The mammogram process itself is short and simple. "It's quick -- the whole time your breast is in compression is about 15 seconds per picture, or about 60 seconds total for the four pictures," she says.

Leslea positions the breast on a small shelf and turns a knob to lower a clear plastic plate down until the breast is pressed between the two plates. She pops behind the technical console and, using a low-dose x-ray, takes two images of each breast -- from the top down and from the side. As each image is completed, the plate automatically releases.

Squeezing the breast is necessary to get a clear picture, she says. "Breasts come in every shape and form, so every mammogram looks totally different. Some breasts are dense, some are fatty. Sometimes blood vessels overlap, which can look like a lump," she says. "It's like a bag of marbles -- you can't see all of the marbles if the bag is round, but if you press it down, you have a better idea of what's inside."

"You need about 15 pounds of pressure to compress the breast properly, which sounds like a lot, but it's about the same as if you were lying on your stomach." Leslea says that almost all of her first-time clients are surprised by how painless the process is. "'What? That's it? That didn't hurt at all,'" is a typical reaction, she says. "I wish women who have had a good experience would spread the word."

Because of her family history, 41-year-old Leslea has started having annual mammograms herself. "Now I can personally say that I do know how they feel, and they aren't that bad."

The most important thing is to talk to your technologist, she advises. Let her know if you're worried or nervous, so she can explain what she is about to do. Leslea tailors her approach to each woman. "I always try to make this the best possible experience," she says. "My greatest fear is that someone will have a bad experience and never come back. Something might happen to them, and that would be terrible."

Communication is key, she says. "Let us know if it hurts. It can be uncomfortable, maybe even embarrassing, to have a stranger touching your breast, but a mammogram really shouldn't hurt. It shouldn't bring tears to your eyes."

"Sometimes, the skin pinches, or the machine is not quite at the right height. Don't suffer in silence, because we can back off or adjust your position. While there is a certain amount of compression that we need to get an accurate picture, we can make things more comfortable. If it hurts, let me know. I'll stop."

"The more relaxed you are, the easier it is for us to get the best position and the best picture." And there are ways to keep mostly covered up if modesty is a concern.

She adds that you shouldn't expect the worst if the technologist needs to take additional images. Every woman's body is different, so it's a finicky process to get a clear shot of the entire breast. "After the pictures are taken, we check to make sure we can see everything -- we need to see all of the breast tissue and have good films to give to the radiologist. We want the perfect picture."

Regular mammogram screenings aim to catch problems while they are still tiny. By the time most women can feel a change themselves, the lump is larger than a kidney bean. The older you are, the greater your chances of finding a problem, which is why it's important for women who are 50 and older to have a mammogram every one to two years. "But if it's caught early enough, you have a greater chance of surviving it." Leslea says. "It's 60 seconds of a little discomfort, and it can save your life."

"Many women are afraid that we might find something, or maybe they have felt a lump and ignored it," she says "That's a shame, because the earlier a problem is found, the better your chances are -- that's what the screening program is all about."