Mammogram

My mom always refused them . Then she had no choice due to pain in her left breast the cancer was in the right one . She was 73 had a mastectomy and lymph nodes removed. Tamoxifen for 5 years. She got it in her right breast when she was 86 but as she was fit had another mastectomy and lymph nodes removed and 15 doses of radiotherapy. It was grade 3. She couldn't face chemo she saw what my husband went through before he died in 2004. She lived until she was 90 . She had cancer and dementia but before the dementia set in she saw both her grandchildren married and my brother and danced at all 3 weddings. She held her first great grandson by then she had dementia have killed my mom but her body lived on . He was the only one she remembered his name .
Having both breasts removed gave mom time to do those things . As the consultant she saw when she was 73 told her if she hadn't had the operation when she did she wouldn't have seen Christmas 2000. Mom died in 2017. She outlived my dad by 10 years .

My mom never had a smear test because she said she couldn't stand waiting for the results .

Me I have every test offered to me there is no point in dieing because of fear or ignorance. My husband was 47 when he died his grade 4 malignant melanoma appeared over night .

Nana56 - hope you will feel better after you hear my story. One afternoon, when I was changing into home clothes, I noticed a spot of blood on the inside of the bra (right cup). At first I thought the blood was from an earlier scratch on my boob. On further examination in front of a mirror, I realised the blood was from my nipple. Panic !!! By the time I fussed around, the surgery had already closed. Rang the out-of-hours. Ofcourse, it wasn’t an ‘emergency’, so I had to wait till the next morning - spent the worst night. Didn’t tell the children, had my best friend over. She stayed with me till late. First thing in the morning drove to surgery. Saw GP. She referred me to the Breast Clinic. Had to wait a few days for the appointment. To cut a long story short,…..saw Consultant, found a lump, had biopsy, turned out to be a cyst. Alls well that ends well.
I can understand your anxiety. But as someone said, most results are negative. And even if it is breast cancer, it can be treated successfully. So, don’t worry yourself , unnecessarily.
Good luck !

I’ve been called back twice and remember that the letter said that most call backs did not lead to the discovery of cancer. I have quite a few friends who’ve had breast cancer and survived, but my aunt died in her 70’s because she’d not been screened.

I was recalled from mine about 8 years ago, I was petrified! It turned out just to be dense tissue, quick scan and sent home.

Please don’t be anxious

Yes. The same with all tests. Once I’ve had it done it’s all I can think about and I’ll be shaking all over when the letter arrives.

If it is at all helpful, another thing to remember is that no one who has breast cancer dies from primary breast cancer. As in, you don't need your breast tissue in order to live. It's only when the cancer becomes very advanced and spreads elsewhere, that you die from it. If it's caught early your chances of survival are excellent.

I had one a couple of weeks ago, when I saw the envelope on the mat, I felt sick, because I have been recalled in the past for suspicious areas. I couldn't believe how quickly the results had come back, so assumed it meant bad news.

Thankfully all was well.

Your comments are so kind and thoughtful. Thank you

Oh please don't worry Nana56, it's so easy to worry, but all so often the things that we dread or fear come to absolutely nothing.
Also, we are so lucky to live now with so many amazing treatments available to us. Best wishes 😊🏵🌺👍💗

Thanks Elegran. That's a really good way of looking at it. X

I'll echo what Elegran has said. Don't get anxious. It's better to be safe than sorry. xx

I think most people feel as you do. I know I do. My sister had her results letter today and was shaking opening the letter. She was clear fortunately.

Ask yourself whether, if it was a checkup to find out whether you had left your purse at home, you would be pleased to discover that you had, or annoyed? I think you would be annoyed that you had to go back for it, but at the same time you'd be pleased that you knew BEFORE you had bought a trolleyful of stuff and were about to pay for it.

A mammogram is to find out whether you have a small, symptomless tumour which can be removed BEFORE it gets bigger and causes lots of trouble.

If you didn't have the mammogram, you would only find out about the small tumour after it had a chance to get bigger - and possibly spread to another site. Just like having to put back all your shopping, go home for your purse and start the whole shopping trip again, you would have far more trouble not knowing about it as early as possible.