Mammograms

In 1995 my primary care physician discovered a mass in my left breast. She followed up the physical examination with a mammogram and a ultrasound. A lumpectomy was performed in which a non cancerous mass was removed and a very small cancerous tumor was removed. I was 45 years of age.

I had not been feeling well for a few months, but could not say that I felt sick. I just knew something was wrong. My daughter who worked for my primary care physician made me an appointment and called to let me know I needed to come in. Bless her heart! I was scared beyond belief, but the surgery went well and back to work I went. I declined radiation much to the surgeon's chagrin, but he explained that with radiation the chance of reoccurring somewhere else in my body was 30%. Nope, I was not going to fry my breast tissue for the cancer to come back in my kidney or liver or where ever it chose.

Three months later I was advised it had returned and a double mastectomy was the preferred treatment. I requested a second opinion. Two weeks later I was at Emory and was told there was no cancer. Whatever the doctors had seen was gone. I believe it was the hand of God. More pragmatic individuals have told me that it was probably a fault in the machine. Whatever, I was back to being cancer free. I was blessed for mine to have turned out so well. There are many, many others that cannot tell their story or even listen to mine. Some of them had waited way too long to get that small lump they found in their monthly breast check, checked out. Some were too scared to go to the doctor, afraid of the bad "C" word.

The panel that just made a decision for millions of women and announced that mammograms are not recommended until age 50 and monthly breast checks are not needed just plain scares the hell out of me. Please reconsider this decision and ladies - do your monthly breast checks. Insurance is not needed for the monthly checks and can mean a world of difference if a mass is found.

The operations and functions of a woman's body is so intricate and yet so vital to the world. Without a woman, man would not be.

Happy reading!

Belle