Breast screening......

Thank you pollyperkins..reassurance was definitely my intention. I was not trying to be frightening or flippant and as such I do not feel that "I should know better" .. as has been suggested.
From my own experience I personally have never needed or even thought to take pain relief for what to me is a relatively simple procedure.
I have my mammograms regularly and I have also had a lump removed from my right breast, which incidentally was found on my 30th birthday. So I appreciate first hand the importance of checking regardless of which side of the age category a person falls into.

I'm with you, Stella - looks like we're in a minority.....

By the time my next one is due I will be past the age they send for you automatically but was given a phone no. so I can make an appointment if I want to. I will definitely go and, as rosesarered commented about her 74 year old friend, breast cancer is still a risk in your 70s and beyond.

I hate all those screenings, smears, mammograms, stool tests, even blood tests fill me with sick anxiety and i don 't have them anymore.......it's the long wait til you get the result....my last smear tests came back 'inconclusive' twice because i was told that as i had caesarian deliveries and no vaginal deliveries my cervix had closed and they couldn't get a smear properly!! Now i'm too old and I don't ask for them!!

I was told that about one person in ten is called back, mostly because of technicalities or an unclear picture, and about one in ten of those who are called back goes on to need further investigations.

WOW! Stella - thank you for that link, that is FASCINATING. I hope others check it out.

They use bigger X ray plates for those unfortunate enough to be more generously endowed! Would nt miss my top & tail check. It gives reassurance.

Ignore all the gumf about false positives. Better to have one of those than Miss breast cancer. My sister and a good friend both died from breast cancer. Neither found the lumps until the cancer had spread to lungs and liver. Neither had 'bothered' with screening and both were nurses

Another friend had a small lump detected by screening and is, we hope, going to be OK.

My eldest daughter is a senior nurse in a hospice. She sees women with young families dying of breast cancer. Please go for the screening. No age is exempt.

If the false positives would have applied to you, then avoiding them is OK - but you don't know this in advance. That is why there is a sequence of tests, first a mammogram which is (relatively) inexpensive and highlights possibilities, then those individuals highlighted get further tests to be certain. Some might have been spared further tests had they refused the mammogram, but others might not be diagnosed at all.

What it boils down to is, would you rather be called back for more tests and then find you DON'T have breast cancer, or ignore the mammogram appointment and then find that you DO have it?

"Mammography is good at finding breast cancer, especially in women ages 50 and older.

Overall, the sensitivity of mammography is about 84 percent. This means mammography correctly identifies about 84 percent of women who truly have breast cancer.

Sensitivity is higher in women over 50 than in younger women. It is also higher in women with fatty breasts compared to women with dense breasts.

The chance of a false positive result is higher among younger women and women with dense breasts. (Most women younger than 50 have dense breasts so there is overlap among these groups.)

Getting a false positive result can cause short-term fear and worry. However, these feelings do not seem to have lasting effects.

Remember, most women called back for a false positive result do not have breast cancer."
ww5.komen.org/BreastCancer/AccuracyofMammograms.html

Stella You say "I don't have breast cancer in my family history, so I don't go for them." I don't have it in my family either, but I still had a cancerous tumour. Some people carry genes which make it more likely, but no-one is immune. They can develop spontaneously in anyone.

Some heads firmly in the sand it seems.
Statistically that may not make a huge difference overall, but for ONE person it may be the difference between life and death.
"No history of breast cancer in our family"???
Speechless!

In my DH's family there was no-one with bowel cancer, but he died of it. In many families there is no history of being run down by a bus, but most people take care crossing the road.

I will no longer go for my Mammograms, I do find them painful but as my last one was about 12 years ago maybe they are better now. I have refused the last two "invitations", I am 61.

I developed a Breast lump about 15 years ago which resulted in mammogram & ultra-sound at Hospital, satisfied it was a benign lump, Consultant had not worries. 10 years ago I had my 1st (& last) routine mammogram, because my little tumour had grown slightly & position of it (underneath my breast but would become an irritant if it continued to grow) I was referred to special Breast Cancer Unit, 3 appointments, 2 ultra-sounds, 2 needle aspirations, 1 biopsy later I was referred to local Hospital where I had the lump removed. I had several problems & just before a routine follow-up appointment I noticed a smell like bad blood. At my appointment I was told I had to be at Hospital for 8 next morning for 2nd operation. If I had left it any longer I would have developed sepsis. I had to have wound packed with dressings for a few weeks until it finally healed. I have so much scar tissue now so I self examine.

Sorry for the long explanation of my personal feelings however I would encourage any woman to go & not be frightened, staff are second to none, after all it may save your life. My DD will have to go regularly as her half-sister had early (in her 40s) Breast Cancer. Good luck & overall don't worry

Do go, even if it isn't pleasant. Several of my friends have had breast cancer which was picked up at these screenings. I've been for the NHS test a few times but think I may be too old for another - in which case I'll definitely pay to be screened again. My aunt had breast cancer in her 70's which was not picked up.

Same goes for cervical smear tests, I've always gone for the screening and have had minor treatment, as have many of my friends. I'm told that they are not really necessary after 65 but will be checking this out!!

Breast cancer wasn't in my family - until my aunt was diagnosed with it.

Breast cancer is not genetically determined, except in a small number of families with a very specific gene, usually associated with early onset breast cancer.

many years ago I was asked by the radiographer if I would go several times to act as a guinea pig for student radiographers. It was to get the positioning correct without pressing the button. I was asked because it did not bother me- a slight squash and it was over.

Do go again, Legs55 I think they have improved since I went for my first one. Having had one lump removed doesn't mean that you have had your ration and will never get another. The random mutation which causes a spontaneous growth could strike again at random.

I always attend for my mammograms, my mum had breast cancer when she was in her seventies, so I'm careful.
Like, Charleygirl, I've been asked a few times if I could attend without any actual button press happening, to give trainees experience of dealing with big boobs. Apparently some of us have breasts which are too large for the scanner to get in one shot from each angle, and we have to be manouvered backwards and forwards a few times!
There is a plus point to big boobs though, if I fall over forwards I'll never damage my face

My sister was 48 when she found two lumps in her breast. She was too young to have been offered a mammogram.(this was in 2000). She died 6 years later.

My eldest sister was 65 when she found a lump in her breast. She had always gone for her routine mammograms and was almost due for another one. She died six years later.

My cousin was 58 when she found her lump which had not shown on her last mammogram. She died two years later.

I've had mammograms privately since I was 42, as they are not offered routinely here until you are 50. I have never found them painful.

To the person who commented they had 'no history of breast cancer' in the family, neither did we until my sister was diagnosed in 2000. She breastfed her three babies as well. It doesn't follow. Please get tested.

juggernaut that was not my problem- I think I was one of the few who did not make a fuss and I lived close by.

I have been going for years, but am now out of the age range, but will keep going without an invitation. I honestly have never felt any uncomfort or pain, one thing did bother me, being claustraphobic, I asked the Nurse what happens if the electricity fails, she smiled and said "we just wind it up by hand and release you"
The electricity has never failed, there is NO need to worry, just go for it!

I am 47, and have just had this done, I was invited too, and jumped at the chance, I was a little apprehensive, but found the whole process quick and although a wee bit uncomfortable, the staff put me at ease and explained the process step by step. Don't worry, it'll be over before you know it.

You will come out of there wondering why you had been nervous, it's truly not a problem. Just relax and treat yourself to a nice coffee afterwards

My very first mammogram 15 years ago brought up a very deep grade 2 cancer. Successfully treated. Three weeks ago another routine one found calcifications which need removing and subsequent radiotherapy. I had no idea either time. The staff, nurses, radiographers and consultants are kind, efficient and nothing is too much trouble.

Please try not to be anxious and good luck.