Sign the Petition Against the new Mammography Guidelines
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for myself, my sisters and daughter. And my sister in law who would be dead today without mammography, and she is a breast cancer researcher! Carbery Caron
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Sarah Sweet aged 43 dx 2 weeks ago with large lump IDC in right breast G3 HER2 and in lymph nodes going to have chemo with herceptin then mastectomy then rads treatment, early diagnosis would of prevented all of this. No family history, and no symptoms leading up to diagnosis just an itch on my boob. Multiple screening for woman of all ages is an absolute must.
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Nihan Price
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Angela Schimpf, atypical ductal hyperplasia diagnosed at age 33 via lumpectomy.
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First of all -- MODS - this should remain on the main page for us to see it.
Elizabeth Thurman, dx last Sept 20, 2010, age 48 at dx (would have been 45 at dx but the original radiologist misdiagnosed me) dx at 48 - Stage 2b/3. ER/PR + HER2 -. 2/20 lymph nodes positive. Still going through tx.
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I think it should be done earlier then they do it now.....If dense breasts create problems for mammograms, then use ultrasound, MRI, as your finding tool for younger women......Insurance companies have toStop being so cheap and trying to cut cost. Have you ever heard of preventitive medicine
Genevieve Barbieri DX Feb 5th, Biopsy Feb 21, Surgery, March 14th.....76, and fighting for the younger ladies. They deserve better treatment.
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I agree!! We need all we can to prevent breast cancer!!
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Kelli Webb diagnosed at 40.
Diagnosed June '10, had just turned 40 in May. Micro Calcifications appeared and later turned out cancerous in both breasts. I never would have found this myself, the tumors barely showed up on an MRI. Dense tissue. Double Mastectomy, chemo for 7 months now onto Herceptin till Oct.
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Due to the new guide lines, I skipped a year. So 2 years after my last mammogram, I went for screening and was plopped on the breast cancer assembly line: screening mammogram, then diagnostic mammogram, then sonogram, then see surgeon who does a biopsy which is diagnosed as invasive ductal carcinoma. Day after stereotatic biopsy, go for followup mammogram then go for MRI. Seems sonogram and MRI revealed another suspicious area in a different quadrant. Never felt comfortable with the first surgeon (actually in fairness, he was not that bad but had gut feeling). He felt that the new area after consulting with radiologist was nothing to worry about. At that point, I told him I had not been pleased with the level of communication from day one of the screening mammogram and that I had already made an appointment at a large cancer center about an hour from where I live for a second opinion. I had asked the surgeon for information, literature, suggested web sites and support groups. Never got any literature and was told that after surgery I would be connected with a Reach To Recovery mentor from the American Cancer Society. I told them I did not want to wait for information until after surgery. I researched on my own and learned that the hospital where my lumpectomy was scheduled, had a Breast Health Navigator on staff. She gave me a calendar for a local Cancer Support Community. I plugged in immediately. I also had an appointment with my gastroentologist for another issue and told him that I had been diagnosed with BC and asked his suggestions for several good BC surgeons in my area. One doctor's name began to rise to the top of the list. I went to him (the Breast Health Navigator helped to get my appointment moved up to an earlier date). The new surgeon showed me all the radiological films which had been ordered by the first surgeon but had never bothered to show them to me. The new surgeon suggested biopsy on the new (actually 3rd area). It was IDC also. I had a skin sparing mastectomy on March 22, 2011. The second surgeon referred me to a plastic surgeon and they both worked on me at the same time. So after surgery, I actually already had the beginnings of a new breast. I will have 2 more surgeries to complete reconstruction which includes a breast reduction on my left breast. The plastic surgeon has a degree in fine arts and is board certified in plastic surgery. She does her own tattooing to match up the nipple and areaola (sp). I am so pleased that I followed my instincts (gut feelings) and got a second opinion. Otherwise it would have been a lumpectomy with radiation and while there is not really a significant family history of BC (Breast Health Navigator sent me to the genetic counselor who mapped out my family history of cancer) which is extensive on my father's side (he died of lung cancer January 1983).
Due to the screening mammorgram and information from the Breast Health Navigator, I decided on the mastectomy. I will always wonder if I had not skipped that year and waited until 2 years to have my mammogram (after 20 years of negative mammograms) if it might have been caught even sooner. I will never know that answer. I suggest getting a mammogram every year but be sure to ask for a thyroid collar and insist upon it even though it might be more trouble from the mammogram tech and also the dental technician. Research is showing that BC patients are having higher incidences of thyroid cancer due to increased radiological follow-ups. My oncologist suggested the OncotypeDX. With just the pathology report and staging, she would not have suggested chemotherapy. The OncotypeDX puts me right in the middle. I could decide to not have chemo but have decided to go with it becaue if I did not go with the cheotherapy and it did recur, I would always wonder if the chemo would have helped. At least I will not have that to wonder about. My motto now is to take each day as it comes, be your own self advocate and be persistent. I will have 4 rounds of T&C in a 3 month period followed by either Tamoxifen or Arimidex.
I vote that mammogram screenings be done every year.
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Dx age 61. For twelve months my surgeio reassured my husband and myself, not to worry about the lump I felt in my left breast-it was an ovid cyst that he removed. Yet...there was something still there. He reassured me and my husband many time within that year-it is only scarr tissue.
He ordered no follow up imaging. But, on my annual exam my general practisioner ordered every test one could get to determine whether it was scar tissue or breast cancer-it was the later. With out the mammo, ultra sound and MRI-I would probabaly be in pretty bad shape today.
I had perfect mammos also, up to time of diagnosis. The docs say it has been there for 10 years. I started mammos at age 50. A diagnois at 40 would have my diagnosis at DCIS stage. Mammos need to be started at age very young age, The life altering disease changes every womans life for te worse.
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dx age 41, base mammo showed nothing at 40 11 months prior to me finding my 4.5cm lump.
In 11 months, the cancer had already gone to 10 nodes. I would not be here if my first mammo was at 50. I have 2 small children, I pray evedryday God will Let me raise them. Please, don't change the guidelines, women will die. I would have
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I was diagnose last year at 31 strong family history, kept getting fibroids so when I found my last one " I was told not to worry, it was not cancer" since I have been getting them since I 20 but always took them off, if it was not for the lymph nodes that were swollen I don't know if they would have found out I had cancer in time, strangely enough 2009 I had taken a fibroid out and came back clear...I was schedule for last september to remove the fibriod, in June found lymph node which they still told me it was nothing no way it could be cancer until they did biopsy turned out it was cancer...
Age does not matter, it's hitting us at any age now, we need more screening.....0 -
Guidelines should be based on best scientific evidence - period. Individual women with special circumstances can always be screened outside guidelines, as they are now.
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Kate C. 40 yrs old. No family history. BRCA 1/2 neg. IDC. Stage 1a, grade 1. ER/PR pos. HER2 neg. My radiation oncologist says we wouldn't have caught this for at least 5 years if I had not gotten a routine screening mammo at 40 yrs.
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Greetings all!
My story is very similar to many. Diagnosed at 42 in Dec. 2010. I had been on a cancer detection program for uninsured women in Ca. The CDP program. For a year I had swollen lymph nodes near my left breast. 2 mammo's & 2 ultra sounds read " normal". A couple of months after the last screening I found a very odd lump on my right breast. Odd as in it felt like a bebe placed just under my skin. My enrollment in the program was coming to an end, every year you reapply. I called the next day for another screen and explained that I would like to get it done before my enrollment expired. They agreed but assured me that the re enrollment was just a matter of signing a new form, no big deal. I have the mammo then they send me across the hall for an ultra sound. The Tech performed the screen & told me she'd be right back. She came back with the Radiologist. He said " hello Cori it's seems we have a problem". I told him I was gonna throw up! ( no joke) he quickly tried to reassure me & and said " no no I believe your fine, I just can't indentify this lump"? So he does the test himself. Had me stand up and hum while he does it...I know right? Sounds crazy! Thought he was gonna ask me to rub my bell a & pat my head too. Lol! He says sound will waves will not travel through a tumor, whatever. His final conclusion is that it is not a tumor and for me to come back in 6 months to recheck. I said " if I was your sister you give the same recommendation?" absolutely he says, it's no biggie"That night wake at 1am, I swear to a voice that says " No!" I grab my breast and knew I had to have a biopsy! I begged my Dr. For the biopsy. He agrees thank God. Then 2 weeks before biopsy the guidelines for mammograms change from 40 & above to 50 & above. My Dr's reassure me again that because I was diagnosed before they changed, I would be safe.......nope! They dropped me like a hot potato! But then a miracle happened & Dec. 1st 2010 they switched it back...biopsy was set. On The 15th I had the biopsy, the 17th I found out that it was indeed a " biggie"! Stage 1 IDC . My point is if I would have waited until it was recommended....who knows what kind of ugly it would have turned into? Be your own advocate...listen to your gut or whatever that voice is in the middle of the night
and they certainly can not jack up the age guidelines again!!!!!
Peace0 -
Happy that no lump from my mammo.
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Sounds like a plan...
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Although several mammos did not find my 6cm+ tumor, I still would want that option available for myself and all other women under 50. We are somebody's mother, wife, sister, grandmother, not just an insurance statistic.
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Is this petition still active? I see it's from 2009....did it go through? Updates?
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In behalf of My SisterKate who was diagnosed last 2011at the age of 38 and still striving at the present....
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Karen H - stage 4 Triple negative at diagnosis, at age 42
In memory of my aunt who died of bone mets two weeks ago.
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Due to all the hype of too much radiation, I did not get mammograms every year. I had a mammogram in October 2008 but skipped 2009 due to the news reports of the new recommendations. I had the next mammogram in October 2010. When I was told there were suspicious microcalcifications, I was not concerned as I had been told for years that I had microcalcifactions in my right breast. I waited until December to go back for the diagnostic mammogram. Then was sent to a general surgeon. Who ordered a sonogram and then performed a steriotactic biopsy. It was positive for IDC, ER+, PR+, HER2-. I was sent for an MRI before the scheuled lumpectomy and a second quadrant was diagnosed in the same breast. I elected for a skin sparing mastectomy with immediated latissimus flap reconstructtion with an expander. I am scheduled for second reconstruction surgery September 20 (due to hubby's work schedule). I am now a firm believer in mammograms. The first tumor was 1.4 cm and the second was 0.6 cm. Stage 1, IDC 0/2 nodes, Grade 2. I was border line on the OncoDx test and elected to take chemotherapy. Just completed 4 treatments of T/C and did very well. Did not have sickeness or excessive fatigue. I feel blessed due to all the prayers and support from family and friends.
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Early detection is the best cure! My cancer was found through my annual mammio. It could not be felt through self exam. It was in the very early stages and was a slow growing cancer. My lumpectomy site is small and I will be going through 5 day, twice a day radiation shortly. It this was found 5 years later, my treatment would be very different. Thank God for mammographies!
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DIAGNOSED AT AGE 59, NO FAMILY HISTORY. IF I HAD NOT HAD SCHEDULED YEARLY, IT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN FOUND
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I am a huge believer in mammography. Had my annual mammo in 2008 - skipped 2009 was too busy to get it scheduled. Had annual in July 2010, then had a compression mammo and ultra sound on left breast. Tumor was very small and would not have been felt. Was found in the very early stages and was a slowing growing cancer. My lump site was small - tried Mammosite rads but ended up doing 6 weeks of radiation treatment.0
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In March of 2011 at age 42 I had my first mammogram. March 31 I had a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound. On April 1 I had a steretactic biopsy. I was diagnosed with DCIS in my right breast on April 7. I had NO family history. Had my nurse practicioner not encouraged me to get the intial mammogram when i had my yrly physical I probably would have waited until i was at least 45 yr old before i had one done. Who know what could have happened by that time. I had a lumpectomy, then 5 weeks of radiation and am following up with Tamoxifen. I am a BIG supporter of early mammograms and other early screenings.
Lisa
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SHAN YAO -25
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IDC found early with routine mammogram and previous baseline to compair! Lump could not be felt. By time it would have been felt it would have been too late.
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Ins did not want to pay for my mammogram this year because I'm 48, hospital done it anyway and am waiting on Doctor's report.
Diagnosed Aug 4th 2006 at 43 years of age
I have yearly mammograms that ins try's not to pay for but I'm blessed with great Doctors that get around it somehow
Emmy
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Ins still refuses to pay for my mammogram, and whats so funny I have Medicaid because of Breast cancer and there are a lot of people like me who have to choose do I get my mammo this month or pay the house payment. It's a bunch of BS and I think they hope for us to die so they don't have to keep paying for our treatment. I'm just makes me mad and needed to vent.
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