Has anyone decided not to go for a routine mammogram?

[hattie43]

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 .

@Mistymoonsinastarrysky Glad it's OK for you. It's not for me though.

And your private healthcare provider will send you for one anyway if you have a breast lump 🙄

Yes, they picked up a pre-cancerous condition. I am very lucky hence why I still attend.

I’ve had two, I have cystic breasts which can be very painful but better to know my lumps were harmless. I’ve just been called for my first routine one, I will be going.

@Mistymoonsinastarrysky I will not be having one under any circumstances. But if it works for you, I'm glad.

Not attending doesn't make any potential cancer go away, it just ensures it will only get discovered at a later stage.

A mammogram is not an invasive procedure. And if you've never had one, how do you know its painful?

Seriously? Routine screening? Would you say the same for your DCs vaccinations? Bowel screening kits that come through the post?
Ridiculous attitude imo.

Vaccination is preventive. Breast screening is screening. Two entirely separate things.

Sorry to hear that

I often thought I wouldn't have cancer treatment, but that choice was underlined by watching my dad have it. It was his choice of course, that's fine. I would never want to go through that.

my best friend's dad opted to avoid further treatment - he took some meds to maintain energy initially, then when they failed he refused chemo. His passing compared to my dad's - a world of difference.

I cared for my dad but sometimes it was hard not to say "how does this benefit you". Not everyone can make peace with dying.

it was weird because my bestie and I thought her dad was making the right choice, but her siblings were devastated.

i'm not at mammogram age yet but mum doesn't go. She's 84 now - I presume they stop offering them by a certain age anyway.

@StandUpForYourRights I've answered this in a previous comment. This is not a test suitable for me, so I am making other sensible arrangements under the advice of my Dr.
Glad it works for you though.

Much rather have a mammogram than a smear !
Why don't men have any regular invasive checks on their bodies ?

Due to having, you know, a job, a life, other stuff going on I like to have control over when I make appointments.

Do you think they send men their prostate exam day and time out of the blue that way?

Even my smear tests aren't arranged for me as if I can't use a phone/the internet.

What does it tell me about the breast cancer screening programme? They are a bunch of patronising arses. Why would I think they would treat me with respect at the appointment?

On top of that, the stats are appalling for overtreated breast cancers .. one third of women having radiotherapy, lumpectomy, the full treatment not just a biopsy .... unnecessarily.

www.google.com/amp/s/news.cancerresearchuk.org/2017/01/10/breast-screening-can-lead-to-some-women-having-unnecessary-treatment/amp/

This week I have had a clear skin cancer result and a clear mammogram. I am so grateful for the opportunity to have these checked.
The NHS is wonderful and we should shoot the government that's breaking it.

Exactly. If you have breast cancer, the first investigation they do is a mammogram.

Please don't let people put others off attending screening appointments. You can alter inconvenient appointments, the radiographers are all female and are wonderful at putting people at ease, and it could save your life.

I always attend, and thank goodness I did. Post covid my routine scan was 3 months late but picked up stage 2 tumours.

I'm 18 months on now, post surgery/chemo/radio etc. Doing fine.

Thank God for the NHS ♥

It does reduce the risk of giving yourself other types of cancer from the radiation though.

And a lot of the cancers the screening detects, a substantial minority of them, would never have led to death anyway - too slow growing

I'm grateful for all screening checks. If anything is brewing I'd like it to be caught early so treatment is as least invasive ad possible, and survival chances increased.
I'm not sure I would feel that way over 70, although I'm full of admiration for anyone older who decides to fight.

I do not judge anyone who refrains from mammograms etc tho, choice is a powerful thing.

Because dna or whatever designed men, chose the sensible option of shoving sexual organs on the outside and easily accessible. Time was also spent ensuring that men are much simpler models and make for easier maintenance programs.
(🤣)

Yeah that's fine at that stage.
I'm just not interested in the crappy screening programme, not totally against mammograms when/if I found a lump.

I also hope that the private nurses might be slightly more polite but no guarantees. I've heard a lot of negative stories from friends. Can't be bothered with that.

Can I just ask a question to those who have had one, please can you tell me if you have to raise your arms up high at any point? I currently have a problem where it hurts to raise my left arm and I'm expecting to go for a mammogram any day now. Thanks

Me, I went but the pain was unendurable and they said they'd have to ''compress more'' to get a usable image. Unbelievable. I did try and find out if they would give me a scan or something but the attitude has just been, no, succumb to this torture, that's your only choice. I am in Ireland and I have health insurance so I must ring up and ask if I can have a private scan as opposed to a mammogram. I'm trying not to die but omg, there is a limit to how much pain I can bear while I'm alive.

Bit my comment stands. It's not an invasive procedure and unless you have had a mammogram, you can't have an opinion over how it feels.

I get it's not suitable and of course everyone is free to choose, but that wasn't my point.

Why are you so outraged - they always give a number to call if the appointment date/time doesn't work for you...

A mammogram can be used as a diagnostic tool for someone with symptoms, and it can be used as a screening tool. I have not objection to the former. It’s screening that I object to and won’t participate in.

Errm, I think the Forrest report in 1988 disproved both of those theories which is why the NHSBSP was set up in the first place.