Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
General health

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Original poster

Has anyone decided not to go for a routine mammogram?

586 replies

hattie43 · 09/03/2023 15:21

I'm curious to know . I have mine next week and will attend but last time was a nightmare as I was recalled and health anxiety went through the roof . Luckily no cancer . I was reading that about 30% of women don't attend Apparently mammograms don't pick up everything and aren't foolproof , but surely they are better than nothing .

OP posts:
Thread gallery
8
NeedToChangeName · 07/11/2023 08:34

Whatapickle21 · 09/03/2023 15:43

I’ve never gone for one. I’ve always had really sore breasts and the tales I’ve heard about how painful the process is have made me sure I don’t want one. My mum died of breast cancer and if that’s what’s in store for me, well so be it.

@Whatapickle21 if it helps to know this, I have quite a low pain threshold but found a mammogram far easier than I'd expected. I'd describe it as "ouch but not terrible"

decionsdecisions62 · 07/11/2023 20:45

It's idiotic not to go for screening. Thank god's we live in a country that has public health screening. I'm grateful for it every single day.

JenniferBooth · 07/11/2023 20:47

I was 50 back in June and havent received a letter yet

CallieQ · 08/11/2023 01:04

decionsdecisions62 · 07/11/2023 20:45

It's idiotic not to go for screening. Thank god's we live in a country that has public health screening. I'm grateful for it every single day.

Agree 100%

WiseUpJanetWeiss · 08/11/2023 08:40

decionsdecisions62 · 07/11/2023 20:45

It's idiotic not to go for screening. Thank god's we live in a country that has public health screening. I'm grateful for it every single day.

Interesting, isn’t it, when the risks and benefits of screening are so finely balanced, that you call me idiotic for declining the offer, yet I do not call you idiotic for accepting.

Carolynpig · 08/11/2023 11:47

I don’t go, I couldn’t take the anxiety owing to a previous critical illness not cancer related. I have no history in the family and check regularly. It’s a personal choice and one I may live to regret,

MrsSkylerWhite · 08/11/2023 11:55

Carolynpig · Today 11:47

I don’t go, I couldn’t take the anxiety owing to a previous critical illness not cancer related. I have no history in the family and check regularly. It’s a personal choice and one I may live to regret”

Please go. Checking isn’t a replacement. Mine was picked up in a routine mammogram, no symptoms. It’s very straightforward, it doesn’t hurt, you’ll be in and out in 5 minutes. Please don’t live to regret it.

fairypeasant · 08/11/2023 13:14

Many screening detected cancers are treated unnecessarily. No one likes to think their surgery/treatment wasn't "life saving", but the stats are that it probably wasn't. Might be. But due to lack of crystal balls, we can never be sure.

Anyone saying it's "idiotic to not attend screening" is too much of an idiot to read the enclosed leaflet with the offer of screening, and understand the statistics. It's an offer, it's individual choice, and it's not clear cut in the case of breast screening.

MrsSkylerWhite · 08/11/2023 13:17

airypeasant · Today 13:14
**
Many screening detected cancers are treated unnecessarily. No one likes to think their surgery/treatment wasn't "life saving", but the stats are that it probably wasn't. Might be. But due to lack of crystal balls, we can never be sure.”

Mine was a small but aggressive tumour. May well have spread, may not. I certainly didn’t want to wait and see. Had mastectomy 3 weeks later and have never regretted it.

I don’t think anyone not attending is an idiot. I do worry for them though.

Poepourri · 08/11/2023 13:30

fairypeasant · 08/11/2023 13:14

Many screening detected cancers are treated unnecessarily. No one likes to think their surgery/treatment wasn't "life saving", but the stats are that it probably wasn't. Might be. But due to lack of crystal balls, we can never be sure.

Anyone saying it's "idiotic to not attend screening" is too much of an idiot to read the enclosed leaflet with the offer of screening, and understand the statistics. It's an offer, it's individual choice, and it's not clear cut in the case of breast screening.

This is exactly the issue.

I've had 3 screening invites, the first 2 included the leaflet, that led me to think - this screening really isn't fit for purpose.

The 3rd invite didn't include the leaflet, but did include a message to say that the GP practice did support screening- in capital letters iirc.

The leaflet was still available online though, so the practice had obviously made the decision not to send it out. Make what you will of that.

WiseUpJanetWeiss · 08/11/2023 13:33

MrsSkylerWhite · 08/11/2023 13:17

airypeasant · Today 13:14
**
Many screening detected cancers are treated unnecessarily. No one likes to think their surgery/treatment wasn't "life saving", but the stats are that it probably wasn't. Might be. But due to lack of crystal balls, we can never be sure.”

Mine was a small but aggressive tumour. May well have spread, may not. I certainly didn’t want to wait and see. Had mastectomy 3 weeks later and have never regretted it.

I don’t think anyone not attending is an idiot. I do worry for them though.

I am very glad it worked out well for you, but your assumption that your view is correct and we silly women who have made a different decision are in need of your “worry” is quite patronising.

SlightlyConcerned23 · 08/11/2023 14:38

poetryandwine · 14/03/2023 15:09

@WiseUpJanetWeiss I completely agree with you that a proportion of those tumours that can’t be felt seem very likely to be amongst those that would never cause trouble. The issue is that we on this thread may not know how to measure it. Researchers are surely as aware as we are of the NHS statement, which I believe, that 3 indolent tumours are found for every life that is saved through screening. And they value their integrity.

Yet they consistently to this day claim an over treatment rate of 10-30% or occasionally up to 50%. Nothing like a ratio of 3:1. So it would be good to know what the definition of ‘over treatment’ is and why this def was chosen. I was disappointed that the Canadian researchers did not pursue the point above, which they called significant.

I could not find a different linking format, sorry about that.

As someone who has had breast cancer prior to being eligible for mammograms (I noticed a lump), I am interested in the over treatment definition.

I wasn’t badly affected mentally with my diagnosis. Grade 3, stage 2, multiple lymph nodes affected, vascular invasion.

I have much older friends who were grade 1, stage 1 (no lymph node or vascular involvement) and who could not feel their tiny lump freak at diagnosis.

Obviously I was not over treated. But my friends? I can’t help but wonder.

I am also very interested in how these super-early diagnoses are skewing the survival rates. Are there sources which have different rates for different initial diagnoses?

poetryandwine · 09/11/2023 01:30

That is a fascinating question,@SlightlyConcerned23 I favour screening mammograms although I believe each woman should make up her own mind. In order to do that we need good, consistent definitions and I am not aware that we have them.

I suspect you are correct that the diagnoses of indolent cancers do skew survival rates. How could it be otherwise?

Babasghost · 09/11/2023 07:24

My boobs are cysty and mammograms are incredibly painful. Why on earth they haven't been replaced with the thermal imaging camera by now is mind boggling.

Cheaper lower risk and less traumatic all round.
My mammograms are a,ways bluryand therefore not diagnostic because the 10 seconds of intense pain is always to much but there is currently no alternative in Irish public healthcare..

Why are all our tests so humiliating and uncomfortable. If they happened to men this would have changed 50yrs ago.

You are allowed to make your own choices. But always read up about it so that you have the right info on which to base your choices.

Hugs to all those worrying.

fairypeasant · 09/11/2023 07:50

I guess the male equivalent would be prostate screening. Which is not universally offered, despite "just" being a blood test. Due to overdiagnosis, unnecessary treatment, unnecessary anxiety, and potential unnecessary unpleasant procedures.

You don't get men infantilised, shamed etc for not wanting a transurethral biopsy. But women are if they weigh up the risk and decide against breast or cervical screening. It's pure misogyny.

WelHong · 09/11/2023 08:40

The male equivalent, so far as my experience of mammograms is concerned, is for a man to put his testicles in a nutcracker, and for someone to squeeze with the force of a giant robot.

I dearly wish there were an alternative screening method for women with tiny breasts.

Bloomingmagnolia · 13/11/2023 19:25

I discovered a lump in my boob. Went to get it checked out today. Mammogram was incredibly painful - I have small boobs and the lovely radiologist had to yank them hard for the machine to be able to press them down. I could have cried. My mammogram didn’t show a single lump as apparently I have dense tissue. I had an ultrasound, which showed up lumps that I didn’t notice. They were biopsied and I await results. A routine mammogram without US may potentially miss something in my case, however, I’d still do it.

Bloomingmagnolia · 13/11/2023 19:28

WelHong · 14/03/2023 12:36

I have a very, very high pain threshold (managed back to back labour with no pain relief) and a mammogram was the most painful thing I've ever experienced. I have also had major surgery twice without complaint.

I think mammograms may be relatively painless for women with enough breast tissue to fit on the plate. But believe me, they are not designed for women with small (or, in my case, tiny) breasts. I would have to be knocked out to have another one.

Absolutely - I have small boobs and it was incredibly painful having my tits pulled to be flat on a plate that they were not designed for. I was sweating profusely and thought I’d pass out. Worse than a smear test.

xJoy · 13/11/2023 22:43

Yeh I'm a b. I think. I just couldn't endure the pain. Horrendous. Worse than childbirth.

I know I should have one but I eat v healthily and I check them every shower I have.

WelHong · 14/11/2023 16:06

xJoy · 13/11/2023 22:43

Yeh I'm a b. I think. I just couldn't endure the pain. Horrendous. Worse than childbirth.

I know I should have one but I eat v healthily and I check them every shower I have.

Same here. I'm an AA. There is nothing to put on the sodding plate, hence it just trapped my nipple. It is the only time I can ever remember crying with pain in my entire life, and I have had some pretty painful conditions requiring surgery.

MrShady · 14/11/2023 17:22

What do they do if you have really dense boobs? Not only am I a K cup, my boobs are so dense they don't really compress!

JenniferBooth · 14/11/2023 19:58

@MrShady I was wondering the same thing Im a HH

SirVixofVixHall · 14/11/2023 21:17

I have dense, H cup breast and mine was fine. I was dreading it, but it really was ok. The radiographer talked to me and made sure I wasn’t too uncomfortable, and then counted down the seconds. I went private for mine as I had an issue I was worried about and I wanted it done as fast as possible. I think perhaps that made it easier, the staff weren’t rushed or under huge pressure, it was all very calm. Perhaps it was just the specific place I went to. My friend always goes there for her mammograms as they are so nice.

WelHong · 14/11/2023 22:38

@SirVixofVixHall I went to a private hospital for mine (like you, I had something I was worried about, and wanted immediate answers). My DD (who's a 36G) has had one and said it was fine. So I think it's just a tiny breasts problem!

Nobody expects men to put their balls in a nutcracker for the sake of screening. Women shouldn't have to do the equivalent. There ought to be an alternative.

Sparks654 · 27/03/2024 12:16

Hi ladies

While no lumps were found the consultant I saw suggested both an ultra sound and a mammogram. Having had 2-3 really terrible smear tests and examinations lately, I am now very apprefhem of more examinations, although I don't believe anything would match the pain of the smear. I am wondering if anyone tried MRI as an alternative? Or even if it is an alternative?