Sign the Petition Against the new Mammography Guidelines
Comments
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Diagnosed at 54 after years of routine mammograms. I couldn't feel the lump. It turned out to be stage 3 and in my lymph nodes. No family history. These new recommendations are insane.
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I have just finished a long year of having treatments due to the diagnosis of stage II breast cancer at the age of 43yrs ...........if these guidelines would have been in affect today.............. I would have never caught this at all.......and I would have obviously become terminal w/ this awful disease.PLEASE LETS ALL SIGN THIS PETITION!!!!!!!!
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Debbie Delcamp Dx at age 53
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Routine annual mammogram found the beginnings of calcifications in situ at age 49. Tested and found to be bad. Had partial masectomy, 8 weeks of radiation and on Tamoxifen for 5 years. So far so good. Still have regular annual mammograms. Without the annual mammogram or baseline mammos from previous years my cancer would not have been detected earlier enough to be dealt with without consequence. Mammograms saved me and the diligent doctors who detected it.
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I was diagnosed April '08 with DCIS on my yearly routine mammo. I am 65. July '09 at her routine yearly mammogram, my 42 yr old daughter was diagnosed with infiltrating ductal carcinoma and with 3 nodes positive. I had lumpectomy followed by mammosite radiation. My daughter had CT/TX for 6 rounds following a bilateral mastectomy. Where would we have been without yearly mammos?!
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My cancer was found by mammogram at the age of 53. If screening was started at age 50, then every 2 years after that, my cancer would have been growing for a year! That is very scary. Please, do not change the guidelines.
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Of COURSE mamograms at age under 50 come up with fewer cancers; but for those that ARE found, it is much more critical that they do so. I fully endorse and request that the prior guidelines be kept in place.
Janet P Nelson
Williamson, NY
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I cannot understand why this is even being discussed. I was listening to a talk show and they said that Utah has been doing just what they are proposing. The death rate for breast cancer is Utah is high. Why not learn from that? Also, we should be incorporating MRIs into the breast exam instead of taking away screenings. It cost the insurance companies far more in chemo and radiation than it would to detect cancer early on. I AM AGAINST THIS NEW POLICY BEING PROPOSED!
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Maryann L - dx age 48 - caught at .7 cm because of mammo
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I have relatives who have survived breast cancer, but most important for this current topic, I have a 34-year-old friend whose breast cancer was discovered by her own discovery of a lump and a subsequent mammogram. To assume that only women over the age of 50 would get breast cancer is not only stupid, it's dangerous! Women's lives will be at risk if these recommendations are taken seriously!
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I would not have discovered my breast cancer if I had not done a breast-self examination. It was the kind that wasn't seen on the mammogram. Even after I knew there was a lump, and it was later discovered to have been cancer, the diagnostic mammogram did not detect the cancer. NOT ALL CANCERS ARE DETECTED BY MAMMOGRAM.
KEEP DOING THOSE BREAST SELF-EXAMS!!!!!!!!!
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As a nurse that works in the field of oncology, I was shocked to learn of the proposed changes to the guidelines. So many of the women who present with breast cancer are in their 40's. Their cancers, a majority of the time, were found by either mammography or self exam. We have come so far in the treatment of breast cancer - to change the guidelines would be going backwards and turning our backs on what we know to be the most effect tools to catch a cancer early. After all, the goal is early detection. This change would not save lives or money.
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Was 55 when diagnosed with ductal carcinoma - 3.7 cm lump in my right breast and 2 sentinel nodes involved - lumpectomy, lymph nodes and ovaries removed (all clear), followed by ACT and radiation, and have been on Arimidex for four years. I had had previous mammos where the lump was visible but docs did not think it cancerous at the time. Waited until after my daughter's wedding for a followup exam and found that things had changed. How anyone can suggest that self-exam is not a good thing, or that mammograms should be delayed, is beyond me. My mother had non-cancerous cysts removed at about the same age, but was not diagnosed with BC. No sisters or aunts or cousins to compare with. Only after my own diagnosis did I learn that my mother's cousin and her daughter both had BC. ~ Now my grown daughter is getting the BRCA test - my sister-in-law was diagnosed with bilateral BC not long after me. ~ If all us survivors speak up, it should sound like a pretty loud roar. The best news would be effective prevention, but until we get that blessing, exams early and often must be supported!
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Hi, I guess that this is the sign in for the petition, which was difficult to find. A friend of mine was diagnosed with breat cancer in her 20s and if this had been the guidelines then, she would not be my friend today!!! These guidelines should NOT be impemented, and if they are, there will be too many women who die or are diagnosed at a much later age.
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I was diagnosed at 43,no family history,and it(the lump) could not be felt.This was after skipping a year,per the old guidelines...I would have most likely have died way before 50....
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Sherri Simmons dx age 42....how dare they play with womens lives!
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LuAnnH - dx age 36 in 1998, Stage II IDC
2006 dx with Stage IV IDC - still alive and kicking and hope to stay that way if research will catch up to me
Forgot to mention NO FAMILY HISTORY AND DISCOVERED BY SELF EXAM AND CONFIRMED BY MAMOGRAM!
LuAnn -- www.luannsblog.typepad.com
Diagnosis: 7/2/2006, IDC, 2cm, Stage IV, mets, ER+/PR+, HER2+0 -
I am signing to protect the current guidelines I even feel, the guidelines should start at age 30 and mamos should be taken every 2 years along with other ways to view such as sonos and, I feel the under arm area and and full chest area should be checked. new and safer and more complete screanings nead to be implemented on a 2 year basis. My cancer went undetected with mamo, was under my arm out of the mamos view. this underarm area needs have attation.
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Kathie Johnstone, Marietta, GA
Diagnosed at age 49. Teach Human Growth & Development to kids from 5th grade through college. The day I was teaching self breast &testicular exams to high schoolers, I went home and felt the lump. Have had Mammograms since age 40. No family history.
I actually had a young women in my class this year diagnosed at age 16!!!!
Let's move forward at start MRIs at 40!!!!
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I was 45 with no risk factors when I was diagnosed. I had a normal mammography at 44 and one year later had an abnormal mammography. Thank God the guidelines were what they were because if I waited till 50 my outcome would probably be a lot different. For all the women below 50 who have gotten BC I hope the pencil pushers really think of the impact this could have not only on the women but the families as well.
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3-05, 43 yo, R breast DCIS 3mm, ER+, PR +, HER2neg
4-07, 46 yo L breast IDC 4 mm, ER+, PR+, HER2 neg
Screening starting at age 40, and close surveillance following the first event, meant early, small and treatable for me BOTH times with BC and RT; saved my life, allowed me more options for treatment, and saved me from more intense, life altering medical treatment.
I'm so grateful that screening started in my 40's; do not wish to think what may have happenedby time I reached 50. With prayers for success of petition.
SM, BSN, M.Ed Michigan
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Margaret Bader. Diagnosed at 51; no family history. Change occurred over 2 years. If I'd been following the "new and improved" guidelines I'd be dead!
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J. C. Miller. Diagnosed in 2007 at age 46, Stage IIIC IDC high grade, DCIS, medium grade, 10/32 nodes, hormone +, Her2- and a lot of difficult and expensive treatment and complications along the way. The guidelines should be to allow a woman and her doctor (who, most likely, went to medical school to learn about this stuff) to figure out what to do. Stop making it easier for insurance companies to decline care.
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Mother's Day 2007 I accidently found a lump wiping excess lotion from my hands on my breasts. My last mamogram was 10 months earlier. My cancer was Stage 2, Grade 3. It had grown from undetectible to 2 cm in 10 months. I was 48. Had I not accidently found it, the mamo I was scheduled for in 2 months would have found it. With the new guidelines the results would have been more tragic. We must stop this change in policy. Women will die as a result of it.
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What are people thinking these days?? Diagnosed 8/08 a survivor that believes we can not take mammograms for granted. To many lives are lost
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I was diagnosed last year, and people need to quit taking mammograms so casually. So many lives are lost each year to Breast Cancer. Especially the younger girls. I have a friend who is on her third recurrence and she is not even 40. If they treat Mammograms so lightly and if this passes, so many lifes will be lost. Let's step up and keep fighting!!
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Mammogram at 41 led to biopsy of suspicious calcifications -- diagnosed with DCIS. Followed up with MRI ad MRI biopsy -- Stage 1 invasive cancer was found. Early detection spared me chemo (and possibly my life).
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i'd like 2 sign this petition but dont know where it is...i found a link mbut it does not work..any help would b g8t
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Elaine Barton here: dx 2005 at 47 with infiltrating lobular Stage III
multicentric disease with numerous tumors, the biggest 5cm. Not
particularly at high risk though my history of mammograms began
at age 30 watching fibroid cysts. I am an example of not having
too many interventions, with only one needle biopsy, at age 30.
My sister, conversely, (15 yrs older) experienced, in retrospect
"overtreatment" with multiple incisional biopsies of fibroid cysts
where the possiblity of cancer could not be eliminated any other
way. She, however, has never had cancer. Ironically, it was me,
"undertreated" who got a late diagnosis. The science is complicated
and the data isn't about specificity, but broad averages, with the
outcome variable being mortality. How long we live after diagnosis
has all sorts of influences besides early diagnosis and I would
argue not the best outcome variable to consider when recommending
preventive care interventions. This, from someone who's been
there, and given it a lot of thought. By all means, have a conver-
sation with your doctor, but just because early diagnosis and
overtreatment doesn't always improve mortality tells me this is
a life and death disease, with imperfect treatment, as well as
imperfect diagnostics. I, personally, received a clear mammogram
report two months before my diagnosis. There was nothing wrong
with the x-ray or the radiologist, as far as I know. It was that they
didn't see is in the lubule as well. Harm, in the form of anxiety while
waiting for biopsy results, was something I didn't experience. The
second time I went back with a palpable lump, the radiologists told
me right away, from looking at the ultrasound, that I had cancer. I
argued with him that I had just had a clear mammogram, but he said
he was certain...took away all the suspense from the biopsy the
next week. Everybody has a story. This is mine.
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I lost a mother to breast cancer, and have been getting an annual mammogram since I was 35 years old because of this loss. By the grace of God I do not have breast cancer, but I will fight for all women that want to continue to have the opportunity for early detection as I have had!
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