The writer is relieved that a government panel suggested that mammograms are not necessary for most women until they’re in their fifties.
This week a government study was released offering new guidelines for breast cancer screening. The panel suggested that mammograms are not necessary until a woman is in her fifties and self-examinations do not work. Needless to say, this announcement has set off a firestorm of controversy within the medical community and women’s groups. Personally, I am relieved!
My first experience with mammography came when I was twenty-three years old. I was undergoing a routine exam when my doctor found a lump in my breast. She immediately sent me off to get a mammogram with the words, “ Don’t worry honey, you’re young enough to survive this”! I was terrified! Thankfully for me it turned out to be nothing but a cyst, but the emotional damage was done. As I approached forty my doctor (a different one) suggested I have a baseline mammogram and start on the cycle of yearly tests per the current medical advice. I took the orders and did as I was told. A week later I got an alarming phone call that there was something suspicious on the film and I would need to have an ultrasound. Again, I was terrified. I had a one-year-old daughter and could think of nothing but her. Again, the same results – cysts.
I scheduled a mammogram for the following year and the same pattern occurred. Mammogram, alarming letter, ultrasound, and cysts – you’re OK. By this time I had had enough! If my medical history shows that I have cysts, why not simply send me for the ultrasounds rather than go through the drama? The experience caused me to stop going through the annual event – I was too nervous to put myself through it again and again. Was I taking a chance? Did I have a nagging guilt in the back of my head? Yes, but it was not enough to get me back in the doctor’s office.
My decision not to have yearly mammograms is also based on my family history. To date – knock on wood – there has been no breast cancer in my immediate family. I am about twenty-five pounds overweight but am exercising and improving my diet. While I do feel that certain screenings are necessary, I feel the medical and pharmaceutical industries have too much power in this country and scare people into taking too many tests and pills. Whatever the studies find and the doctors suggest, I ultimately have the final decision on what to do and what to take that will be the best for my family and me. There may come a day when I no longer have that power but while I do I hope I use it wisely.
Related stories:
"Blowback on the New Mammogram Guidelines"
"Why I Hate the New Mammogram Guidelines
"Why It's Worth Thinking How Often Women Get Mammograms"
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