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General health

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Original poster

Turned 50. Mammo appt just came out of the blue.... Would you have it?..

35 replies

Erebus · 07/04/2013 20:57

I am interested in knowing whether you'd jump at the chance to go and be 'reassured' or whether you'd wonder whether your lack of risk factors outweighed the risks of the radiation involved, esp as it'll be every 3 (?) years forever.

Did you do some research? Did you uncover that stuff that showed that overall, breast screening doesn't reduce the overall outcome of breast cancer detection across the nation; that a large number of 'detected tumours' transpire to be nothing?

Genuinely interested.

OP posts:

Forwardscatter · 07/04/2013 21:01

Here's what Cancer Research have on it.

CabbageLeaves · 07/04/2013 21:04

I'm seriously considering turning mine down

CatelynStark · 07/04/2013 21:09

I'm 48 and was offered my first one last June. I took the appointment willingly. It didn't occur to me to refuse.

When I got the all clear, I felt quite relieved. After reading the OP, I'm now wondering if I have been duped in some way??

digerd · 07/04/2013 21:14

My DD went for her first one at 47 in January, and was recalled for something suspicious. Had 5 biopsies under local, and all turned out benign. She had no lumps, but mammo showed a cluster of calcified cells, which can in some cases be the type to turn cancerous later.

DD was frightened but was pleased to have them caught early and treated with no chemo, if dangerous.

But more relieved that it was benign.

CabbageLeaves · 07/04/2013 21:18

Having read the info online (that link wouldn't load) I will go

Fluffycloudland77 · 07/04/2013 21:56

I'd go, but I have every test and vaccination offered to me.

BIWI · 07/04/2013 21:59

My mother died from advanced breast cancer at the age of 66. It was first diagnosed at a mammogram when she was just 61.

I was very, very happy to be offered the opportunity for early screening.

Frogman · 08/04/2013 10:11

I go privately every year.

AMumInScotland · 08/04/2013 10:25

All tests have the risk of false positives and false negatives. Personally, I'm glad to live at a time when tests are available, and am happy to take the risk of a false positive to get the potential benefit.

Plus, my mum had a tumour found because of her routine mammogram, had a small operation (fairly quick and easy as it was only about the size of a pea), a few sessions of radiotherapy, and now some pills (not tamoxifen but something similar) and has had the three-year all-as-clear-as-they-can-ever-say. If she hadn't had it spotted on the routine test, then maybe she'd now be facing a much trickier scenario for the treatment it would need if it had been found that much later.

tgisue · 08/04/2013 10:28

Does anyone know how much a private mammogram costs?

Frogman · 08/04/2013 10:39

Tgisue - about the same price as a service for a car! Depends on the country you are in but roughly under 200 pounds.

Mrsrobertduvall · 08/04/2013 10:41

I had one last year...didn't occur to me to turn it down.
I Didn't find it uncomfortable .

Sleepyfergus · 08/04/2013 10:47

My mum found a lump just before her 50th birthday and it turned out to be cancer. She went onto have a maesectomy and reconstruction, chemo as 5 years of tamoxifen. 16 years on and she is still clear. My MIL has have breast anger twice, and had similar treatment to my mum. She is about 6 years younger then my mum.

I'll probably get screened earlier (currently 40yo) but I will gladly take any screenings when offered. Not just for me, but for the sake of my 2 dds who sadly have this legacy of breast cancer in their family on both sides. (Plus I believe my mums mum had breast cancer although se ha other things too)

tgisue · 08/04/2013 10:48

Thanks for that Frogman. I was wondering though if something is picked up on a private routine mammogram, you will obviously have to pay for further diagnostic tests which could be really expensive?

Frogman · 08/04/2013 11:03

Tgisue - if you are in the UK then you could opt back in to the NHS to cover anything.

isteppedinto · 08/04/2013 11:23

I don't have them. Plenty of doctors - mainly in Scandinavia, I think - seriously question the value of such screening; do your research. You are right to be concerned about both radiation and over-diagnosis in my opinion.

Dahlialover · 08/04/2013 15:44

I had one last year (48).

I was told the staff were really nice. They were at best indifferent. It was painful and she kept repeating it. I have yet to find out why I had to remove my glasses (there was nowhere safe to put them).

I thought my mother was mad to refuse to go after 2, but can't say I blame her after that. (she died early of something else)

snailsontour · 08/04/2013 17:50

I would have it like a shot!
I wasn't offered my first mammogram until I was 54, due to my birthday falling outside the range for earlier testing, and it picked up my breast cancer. And I will never know if I'd been screened earlier at 50 could I have avoided chemotherapy and mastectomy...
Breast cancer is not an old ladies disease any more and the average age continues to fall.
I never thought it would happen to me, hey, I breast fed 4 babies, I wasn't overweight, I exercised, I ate healthily, didn't smoke...
I got breast cancer.

Original poster

Erebus · 08/04/2013 20:22

Thanks for the links, Forwardscatter- are you, by any chance, a radiographer? I am a bit surprised that the links don't specifically mention the statistical risk of the mammogram X-ray dose, considering that it'll be repeated every 3 years for maybe ever; additional 'views' attract more dose etc etc.

I totally get why posters have said they'd 'have it like a shot' having had a positive mammo, then treated via surgery, RT, chemo ... but statistically they could just as well have been those who'd've never known the had that cancer, but now bear the scars, physical and emotional that breast Ca treatment entails. No one knows!

So I'm still not sure.

OP posts:

alcibiades · 08/04/2013 21:26

I've debated whether to mention my reasons for not having a mammogram, in case that puts off anyone else. But that's a rather patronising idea and, anyway, one of the complaints I have about my local breast screening unit is that they seem, well, rather patronising.

I have long had concerns about the actual process. Too often in the past, I heard/read about the procedure ranging from uncomfortable to painful. There needs to be quite a lot of pressure exerted in order to get the best pictures, and I do wonder whether internal bruising can result, possibly giving rise to damage that subsequently gives false positives. When I did some research when the first "invite" for breast screening arrived, I couldn't find anything that put my mind at ease. More recent googling throws up some links to fat necrosis in the breast, possibly resulting from trauma, and how difficult it can sometimes be to distinguish that from a possible tumour.

I'm a fan of science, but I can't get away from the idea if you take a breast, squash it hard and flat, then shoot some x-rays through it, and then think you can persuade me that that procedure is completely benign and won't cause any damage whatsoever, then you're not the kind of person to listen to my worries.

darkbluedelphiniums · 08/04/2013 21:37

Yes, yes and yes...my mum had a cancerous tumour picked up last year at her mammogram which was too small to be felt- she had a speedy mastectomy and thankfully as they caught it so early was able to avoid chemo/radiation. That mammogram either saved her life or at the very least spared her the side effects of chemo and radiation treatment, so I am always going to be on the side of having it done.

invicta · 08/04/2013 21:42

My mil had breast cancer detected as a result of a mammogram. That was 14 years ago and she's fine now.

I had a mammogram ( early 40s) after finding a lump. It was uncomfortable but okay. I think the benefits outweighs the risks.

IamtheZombie · 08/04/2013 21:53

"but statistically they could just as well have been those who'd've never known the had that cancer, but now bear the scars, physical and emotional that breast Ca treatment entails. No one knows!"

Would those be the scars of still being alive, Erebus?

I'm still under active treatment for my breast cancer. I've had the mastectomy, the chemotherapy, the radiotherapy and I'm now on the home stretch in my 18 cycles of Herceptin as well as being on Arimidex.

Twenty years ago a mammogram picked up DCIS. That time I only required two lumpectomies, 6 weeks of radiotherapy and Tamoxifen.

IndigoBarbie · 08/04/2013 23:04

erebus, a dear friend of mine nearly missed a mammogram due to another health concern, Had she not gone she would not have discovered that she indeed had a cancerous lump in her breast of an aggressive fast growing type. Not detectable by touch either.

Unfortunately no matter how we feel about it, sometimes the only way to discern our health is to use the current medical abilities (ie the scans and associated radiation exposure) that are available to us.

If you are interested calcium bentonite clay has been known to remove heavy metals and radiation from the body.

Please go and get screened.

Chucksteak · 08/04/2013 23:43

Research by Prof Michael Baum (BMJ, 2013, 346:1385) states that
3.4 per 100,000 screened women avoid dying from breast cancer;
3-9 per 100,000 will die from lung cancer and heart issues after radiotherapy/chemo.

I have not attended any mammogram screenings. I resent being sent an invitation with an appointment without any information in the letter regarding pros or cons or informed consent. Am I just expected to turn up like a good little girl?

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