Before getting the results if it’s two to three weeks, do you worry in that two to three weeks?
No, no I don’t, I give it a thought and then I forget about it and then all of a sudden the letter comes and I think oh oh. Just before I open it I think oh, but I’ve been lucky.

How long did it take before you get the results;

I think between fourteen and twenty-one days.

So while yore waiting for the results do you ever think about the letter or the results or not at all;

I did this time with my doctor saying, and this thing that came out about HRT and breast cancer you know, and if yore on the dual one yore more likely to get it. And I did think this time am I going to be lucky still and it was lovely to get the letter, I thought oh yippee you know, saying I was clear you know.

What did that letter actually say?

Oh I’ve thrown it away.

that’s okay. Is it clear or do you ever think I’m not sure what this means?

Oh yes it’s clear, it says I’m not required you know, and wll see you kind of in three years time, so you know that everything was alright.

So how long does it usually take before you get the results?

Only about three weeks I think, it wasn’t long before I got that. And each time when it comes I think oh crikey, that’s quick. Which you do because sometimes you know they’ll say “Oh well let you know, it could be a while but well let you know.” But I suppose if there was anything wrong you don’t worry because you think, well if anything was wrong anyway they would be writing to you or ringing you up and telling you to go back again, yeah.

But between the time you have the mammogram and you get the results, do you think about the results or you just get on with things;

No, not really. I just get on with my life and you know.

It doesn’t worry you at all?

No, no I just think oh well they’ll ring me up straight away or something if theres anything wrong [laughs].

And when you get the letter is it a relief?

Yeah you think oh this is it, you know theres nothing wrong you know.

It is usually two to three weeks when they come through and I’d feel, I feel quite confident that if I had a problem I would hear long before that anyway. Yes;

So you receive a letter don’t you?

A letter through the post yes.

And what does the letter say;

It’s, its just something to the effect that they’re pleased on this occasion that the mammogram has come up clear and no problem sort of thing, not in those words but in that meaning, yes;

So it’s always clear the meaning?

Absolutely yes. Yes.

So while you’re waiting for the results to come through do you think about them or do you get on, do you feel anxious at all or not;

For the first week I feel a bit anxious because I feel if you’re going to hear something you’re going to hear in those first few days and after that first week somehow I start relaxing and I feel quite confident that everythings going to be OK, so.

When you get the results do you feel a sense of relief then?

Absolutely yes, thank God for that, yes.

While you were waiting the very first time, how did you feel when you were waiting for the results, did you think about it a lot or?

Oh, I was obsessed with it, absolutely obsessed. Because they did say to me that it takes a few weeks, well a few weeks for me, by the end of the first week I was already watching the post. So, as I said, I was totally obsessed with it. I mean, I’m not any more. If it happens to me, it happens to me and I shall have treatment and hope for the best but at that point, no I drove the entire family mad. I was phoning home from my office every morning, “is there any post for me?”

So did they know you were worried about the results…?

Yes, yes [laughing]

What were your expectations of the results?

Oh, I felt sure there would be something disastrously wrong. And when it came I kept thinking, oh the letter says theres nothing to worry about, “no need for further action” or some such phrase. I kept thinking, it’s too good to be true. And then, of course, I had to unwind, didn’t I? Because I’d got so uptight with all this self-imposed worry.

So the first time you were really anxious when you were waiting for the results, how about the second time?

I was quite blas’ about it [laughing]. They’ll come when they come and whatever they are, they are.

And that was because you’d done so much more reading and?

Yes, and also because I know that having had the mammogram half way through the 3 year span of time, if it does turn out that theres something there, it hasn’t had too long to get a hold.

And how about this time, this waiting for results, how is it?

Yes, I’m not too, I mean I know I shall be a little bit nervous when I open the envelope just in case theres something in it, something I don’t want to see. But no, I’m not too worried.

Another thing which I think I find a bit alarming, or a bit anxiety making, a bit angst making, is the fact that the radiographers, or the people that actually do the scanning, they have different attitudes to you. And the last time, the very last time I went, which must be the fourth time I’ve been so I’m quite an old hand at it now, the women, the radiographers were coming out and saying to the women, "Are you all right? Fine, yeah, no it was fine, you’re all right, you’ll get a letter in a couple weeks’ time."

Well the girl that I had doing mine was a learner, she was a student and she was being very careful and very concerned and when she came out to tell me about mine she came out and said "Thank you very much, your scan was done and it’s, and weve got the pictures and you’ll be hearing from us." And immediately I was ahh, why, why isn’t she talking to me like the other people are being talked to? Why isn’t she saying "Everythings all right," da di da, you know, something must be wrong, theres something wrong. So then I spent the next period thinking what am I going to hear? What am I going to hear? And of course the letter came and everything was clear, so yeah. A lot depends on who you are dealing with, how you’re feeling on the day, whether it’s a nice experience or not. And after all at the end of the day all the scan’s going to tell you is that you have got it or you haven’t had it, but it isn’t going to tell you that you’re not going to get it.

How long was it before you received the results with the Marks & Spencer and the NHS? Was there any difference?

There was, with the NHS it was a little bit longer, it took a, in fact I only got it the other day and I had it, was it over a month ago? Yes. Whereas with the [private hospital] it was within 2 weeks.

And what did the letter say?

It was a basic letter which they probably send out to everybody saying that they didn’t find or detect anything but that we should carry on examining our breasts. But the NHS letter said that there wasn’t anything that they found but there is always a small chance that something wasn’t detected and that to carry on examining yourself and to carry on having mammograms and I would be getting notification, I think it said 3 years. So it was basically the same.

Easy to understand?

Oh yes, no I mean I just scanned the letter very quickly and it was very clear.