I have recently reached the age at which I need to start getting mammograms. Ladies, can you tell me what you do with your diabetes tech (i.e. insulin pump and cgm) while getting your mammogram?
I did a search on this site and there are a few relevant threads, but they are all several years old, so I would like to know what the consensus on this is now. Should I remove my pump and/or cgm transmitter? (I have a tandem tslim x2 and a dexcom).
Thank you!!
I didn’t have a mammogram, but I had both an MRI and CT scan.
I took off my pump for both procedures and left it in the exam room. I left my sensor attached.
The stories that ant metal will be ripped off your body by the magnet or superheated by X-rays is all myth.
I took off my pump because I was afraid it might fail, but the sensor was not a big worry.
Just as the nurse or tech who sets you up, you won’t be the first to come in with tech
I wear my Dexcom sensors on the back of my upper arm and just leave it on. I don’t remove the transmitter.
I wear my pump clipped to my waistband and don’t take it off.
I think that mammography is sophisticated enough these days that you don’t have to worry about stray radiation floating around the room or even away from the breast area. I am careful that my infusion set is not on my upper abdomen and potentially in the way.
I leave my CGM and Dash in my purse. They are both within the 20ft so no problem.
I don’t remove my pod no matter where it is on my body and it has never interfered or been harmed same for my sensor and transmitter. Hope this helps.
Just had mammogram 2 weeks ago:
No issue with CGM (dexcom). It was fast so left receiver in changing room.
MRI I had last year for back: removed sensor.
Thanks. What I’m getting from this is that I should have no problem with the dexcom… but maybe(?) I should remove the pump? @Laddie I know you said that you leave your pump on, but that does make me a bit nervous. I’ll also ask the tech what they think.
How long does a mammogram typically take? (Sorry if this is a silly question but, again, I’ve never had one before!)
One question to ask yourself if you take off your pump, where are you going to put it?
Prior to the pandemic when I got a mammogram, there was a changing room with locked lockers so there was a safe place for my pump in a different room. Now the place where I get my mammogram has me change clothes in the same room as the mammogram will take place. So I could take off my pump and put it in my purse on a chair but I doubt that would provide any more protection than wearing it.
But for sure you should do whatever makes you feel comfortable. There is certainly no risk to taking off your pump as long as you have it in a secure location. (I am big on not wanting my pump to ever be lost or stolen….)
My mammograms take about 10 minutes (or less) and that includes a lot of being repositioned. The pictures themselves are maybe a second or two.
The worst part of mammograms is having to worry about the results. I now have digital 3D mammograms and get the results the same day by email. But in the past I had to wait about a week for the postcard.
I am only 34 but get mammograms every year due to family history of breast cancer.
I leave my CGM on my stomach and my pump clipped to my pants. No problems.
Only ferrous metal gets moved by the magnet, but if you don’t know 100% that metal is non-ferrous, you need to remove it for safety (and the magnet can heat metal as well and people have been burned), and since techs aren’t usually able to determine and since ferromagnetic detectors are almost never in use, they should err on side of removing all metal. If you have even known non-ferrous metal anywhere close to what’s being imaged, it needs to be removed though also for image quality because it can still produce artifacts and ruin the very expensive images you presumably need. For example, I’ve seen scans taken of someone’s head while wearing tiny sterling earrings (missed in the metal check)–didn’t cause any harm but there are big circular artifacts all over the image that look kind of cool as art, but render the image useless for the intended purpose.