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MollyBloom
Joined: 21 Jul 2006
Location: James Joyce's pants
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 Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 4:38 am Post subject: best place to get a mammogram? |
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Should I go to a hospital, or that Dr. Sung (?) who is near Hannam/Itaewon...
What am I looking at for costs? Does National Insurance cover anything?
I would prefer someone that speaks English well since there is breast cancer in my family and I'd like to know if I am looking at anything serious.
I'm not quite at the age to start getting them, but I think I need to soon. |
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CabbageTownRoyals
Joined: 14 Sep 2006
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| Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 4:45 am Post subject: |
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| The International Clinic in Itaewan doesn't have the technology for that~ you need to go to a hospital. |
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joshuahirtle27
Joined: 23 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 5:20 am Post subject: |
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Not to be ignorant but... do Koreans have mammography technology. They barely have breasts.
Anyway good luck. Hope you're healthy. |
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OnTheOtherSide
Joined: 29 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 5:24 am Post subject: |
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I'll check it out for you  |
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MollyBloom
Joined: 21 Jul 2006
Location: James Joyce's pants
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| Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 5:49 am Post subject: |
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| CabbageTownRoyals wrote: |
| The International Clinic in Itaewan doesn't have the technology for that~ you need to go to a hospital. |
Does Dr. Sung work at the International Clinic? I thought she had her own office. |
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MollyBloom
Joined: 21 Jul 2006
Location: James Joyce's pants
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| Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 5:50 am Post subject: |
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| OnTheOtherSide wrote: |
| I'll check it out for you |
Thanks!
Edit: oh, I just *got* it now. No thanks!
Last edited by MollyBloom on Fri Oct 03, 2008 9:06 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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teachergirltoo
Joined: 28 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 4:49 pm Post subject: |
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| If I were you I would skip the mammogram here and go straight for the ultrasound at a big hospital. I come from Canada and usually if there is a history of breast cancer in the family they will insist you have the Ultra Sound for clarity. I just went through this myself here. At a breast clinic close to Ajou university hospital they charged me an extra 80,000w for an ultrasound and the doctor was fluent in English - trained abroad, with the latest equipment. When I initially went to a smaller hospital for a mammogram it looked like the equipment hadn't been updated in 30 years. For peace of mind and accurate results I would get the best possible consultation. |
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MollyBloom
Joined: 21 Jul 2006
Location: James Joyce's pants
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| Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 8:53 pm Post subject: |
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| teachergirltoo wrote: |
| If I were you I would skip the mammogram here and go straight for the ultrasound at a big hospital. I come from Canada and usually if there is a history of breast cancer in the family they will insist you have the Ultra Sound for clarity. I just went through this myself here. At a breast clinic close to Ajou university hospital they charged me an extra 80,000w for an ultrasound and the doctor was fluent in English - trained abroad, with the latest equipment. When I initially went to a smaller hospital for a mammogram it looked like the equipment hadn't been updated in 30 years. For peace of mind and accurate results I would get the best possible consultation. |
Were you at Ajou University Hospital? If so, did you make an appt. at the breast health center, or at the international clinic? |
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polonius
Joined: 05 Jun 2004
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| Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 12:10 am Post subject: |
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My wife does all her check ups at Dr. Sung's. She is not part of the international clinic in Itaewon. She has her own clinic just west of Soenchunghyung Hospital. She has up to date equipment, and speaks excellent English.
She does cost a little more than the average hospital, but if you want peace of mind, that is where you will find it. If you need her number, you can find it here:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=134509&highlight= |
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teachergirltoo
Joined: 28 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 2:23 pm Post subject: |
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I went to the breast clinic. But you need to get a referral from an outside doctor otherwise you have to pay out of your own pocket. Actually you may be able to phone the international clinic and find out how much they would charge you without the referral. I wanted to see a dermatologist there and said I wanted to see one without a referral because I was too tired to go see another doctor to get the referral slip. They kept telling me it wasn't wise because it would cost me soooo much money but I insisted - anyways, when I asked them for the cost without the national insurance they said 50,000w. To me that is cheap so I skipped the referral and saw the Ajou doctor. (Side point. Don't go to the dermatologist there. It was like talking to a grade six student mentality who didn't seem to know that much. I got much better service at a private clinic in Seoul).
Anyways, here is the International Clinic's telephone number: 31-219-4312. Within a few seconds on their computer they can find out the cost of getting an ultra sound at the breast clinic without the referral. However, there are many private clinics that do ultrasound too. I just recommend going ultrasound that mammagram.
If there is a problem on the ultrasound at the private clinic they will give you a referral to the big hospital breast clinic which do it again but for free under the national insurance. |
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Starla
Joined: 06 Jun 2008
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 3:02 pm Post subject: |
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| joshuahirtle27 wrote: |
Not to be ignorant but... do Koreans have mammography technology. They barely have breasts.
Anyway good luck. Hope you're healthy. |
You don't have to have big breasts to get breast cancer. It can strike anyone anywhere, especially if there's a family history. Look at Christina Applegate for example. She had a double mastectomy recently.
Anyway, very good info in this thread. |
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moosehead
Joined: 05 May 2007
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| Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 12:46 am Post subject: Re: best place to get a mammogram? |
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| MollyBloom wrote: |
Should I go to a hospital, or that Dr. Sung (?) who is near Hannam/Itaewon...
What am I looking at for costs? Does National Insurance cover anything?
I would prefer someone that speaks English well since there is breast cancer in my family and I'd like to know if I am looking at anything serious.
I'm not quite at the age to start getting them, but I think I need to soon. |
I had one a few weeks ago at Severance Hospital at Yongsei Univ. I went thru the Intl Clinic and saw Dr. Park (female). She said if she recommended it then Natl Insurance would cover part of it - and she did since I haven't had one in several years and am of the age to have them regularly.
I think I paid about 30,000 won for just the mammogram and it was ever bit as technical as the ones I used to have a Memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC - which is top of the line.
Now, all that being said, it DOESN'T mean the dr who read the mammogram (and that's important) was just as experienced. However, breast cancer is a BIG deal here - a lot more frequent than you might imagine. Cancer in Korea is generally higher than a lot of other countries for various reasons.
If cancer runs in your family, please do some internet research for breast self-exams and risk factors (smoking, birth control pills, etc). I have a very good friend who is a breast cancer survivor and a lobbyist for breast cancer research; she's an expert on it if anyone is. She's also a lawyer and has litigated quite a few cases involving breast cancer.
I emailed her after my mammogram because I was shocked there wasn't an accompanying exam by a dr - she said generally the case is a lot of breast cancers are actually detected from self exams and/or when a lump is detected by a partner.
Smoking and birth controls do add significant risk factors to a woman's chance of developing breast cancer - or any cancer, actually. I continue to be shocked by how many young people smoke when it's so well established as to how deadly tobacco is.
you can pm me if you need more info on finding a mammogram.
fyi, if you haven't had one before, be prepared. They do hurt if done correctly. Smaller breasts are even more difficult. But it's a good thing, ok?
be good to yourself. have a mammogram! |
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MollyBloom
Joined: 21 Jul 2006
Location: James Joyce's pants
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| Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 2:06 am Post subject: |
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Okay, my situation is that 8 years ago I had breast surgery (not cosmetic), I have a lot of scar tissue and abnormal lumps that resulted from them cutting through layers of fat/tissue. I still get sharp pains in my left breast, also, which is really uncomfortable. Before I came back to Korea a few months ago, I had a breast exam and my doctor said everything looked fine. But one particular nodule has been hurting recently, no matter if I touch it or not. My doctor said that when I reach 30 I should start having yearly mammograms, but I am wondering if I should have one now just to be safe.
My maternal grandmother had a double mastectomy, and my mother just had a lung removed due to lung cancer (never smoked a day in her life!)... |
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Starla
Joined: 06 Jun 2008
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 3:06 am Post subject: |
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| MollyBloom wrote: |
Okay, my situation is that 8 years ago I had breast surgery (not cosmetic), I have a lot of scar tissue and abnormal lumps that resulted from them cutting through layers of fat/tissue. I still get sharp pains in my left breast, also, which is really uncomfortable. Before I came back to Korea a few months ago, I had a breast exam and my doctor said everything looked fine. But one particular nodule has been hurting recently, no matter if I touch it or not. My doctor said that when I reach 30 I should start having yearly mammograms, but I am wondering if I should have one now just to be safe.
My maternal grandmother had a double mastectomy, and my mother just had a lung removed due to lung cancer (never smoked a day in her life!)... |
Yes, go. If you feel any change in your breasts, you should go. Most lumps are non-cancerous but even teenage girls get lumps. If it hurts, then I would definitely go. I'm waiting for my insurance to kick in to go myself. I had to wait 2 months back home to get my exam and I needed a note too from my OBGYN. I couldn't get a hold of him to give me a note because he worked only one day a week and consequently, I couldn't get another referral that could see me sooner either. I was told to wait. I ended up going to Korea without getting it done. I can't believe how health care in America sucks. I hope I have a better experience here. My aunt died from breast cancer because she waited too long after finding a lump. Don't wait. |
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OnTheOtherSide
Joined: 29 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 4:35 am Post subject: |
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| I am a professional breast examiner. I even do it for free! What a deal. Set up an appointment now ladies. |
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