San Carlos Center Imaging

I have been to PAMF San Carlos twice for mammograms, and I will never be back. At the first visit, I stood at the machine with my breast clamped painfully in the vise. I was visibly grimacing in pain, and the technician didn't stop to see if there was a problem or if she could make an adjustment. During the scan I had to stand over a hard floor with no support or anything to hang onto. The pain increased to the point that I reflexively rose up on my toes (it was pulling too high on the underside of my breast) and I started hyperventillating. All the technician could think to do was keep repeatedly commanding me to hold my breath (while hyperventillating?). I was seriously at risk of fainting, maybe tearing my breast tissue. I am overweight with large breasts, so my breast would not have just slipped out the vise. Why do they think it is a good idea to make a woman stand during such a painful procedure? With no support or anything to hold onto? (Except maybe the mechanism in front of you, with moving parts? Even the tiny female technician was too far away to do anything if I fell. Why can't they have us sit in a chair? After all, disabled women have to get mammograms. For the second visit, I asked while making the appointment whether I could sit in a chair during the procedure. The person on the other end of the phone seemed mystified. She had to put me on hold. When she picked back up again she asked if I needed assistance. I said no, I want to sit in a chair during the procedure. She said no the procedure is done standing., so I asked what do you do for women in wheelchairs? She was mystified again. Put me on hold again. When she got back she said yes I could have a chair. When I got to my appointment, the technician was completely ignorant of my request. I had to request the chair again. She made me go through the entire explanation again, and got huffy with me for making her job take longer. After getting set up with the chair, she said to me “Now, this isn't supposed to hurt”, as if to tell me that I was being a whiny child for claiming that squashing my breasts down to a pancake caused pain.

Super clean, mri room is a vibe with mood lighting and on demand music. Great experience.