"When Mammograms Lie" an article by reporter Sharon Kirkey of Post Media

Last Friday in the Vancouver Sun there was an article by Sharon Kirkey about how mammograms miss cancer.  I contacted her and the full article can be found on line here.  I encourage you to go and read and look at the great mammography images of dense breasts that Sharon has posted.  You will see why looking for cancer in dense breasted women is like looking for a snowball in a blizzared.   I forget where I read that but love the imagery as it is so much more visual than "white on white"!


http://o.canada.com/health/when-mammograms-lie-how-cancer-can-sneak-past-our-greatest-screening-techniques


As I know by now, I am not alone in my experience.  Sharon Kirkey mentions the private member's bill that MP Patrick Brown put forward and that is now stalled in the senate.  Mi-Jung Lee and Melanie Nagy have both contacted MP Brown but it is our senators that we need to light a fire under to get them to pass this bill.  You can read about the bill here.  I am going to contact some of the BC senators and see if I can set up a meeting with them.


Sharon Kirkey also quotes Dr. Christine Wilson of BC Screening Mammography who says there limitations with mammography as with all technology.  That is okay, most things have limitations but if women were informed they have dense breasts they could do something about it, namely get an ultrasound or an MRI.  Had I been told my breasts were dense, I would have paid for an ultrasound privately.


Most alarmingly for me in the article is the attitude of Dr. Steven Narod, a world leader in the field of breast and ovarian cancer genetics at Women’s College Research Institute in Toronto.  From Sharon Kirkey's article, Dr. Narod says, "It's putting a lot on women's plates.  I think we've already got enough fear of breast cancer in the population without exacerbating it."  He goes on to say, "Should we make the situation worse by telling women they have highly dense breasts? What’s the response? Get an MRI? An MRI is an expensive test. Is that where we’re heading?  I think it should be clear-thinking scientists and policy people versed in healthcare evaluation to be making these recommendations", and not a political response to pressure from advocacy groups, he said.  This makes me want to scream - not a political response from advocacy groups!  He clearly hasn't seen what advocacy groups in the US have done to change the rule in 14 states!   Does it all come down to money!   Is my life and the lives of all the other women with dense breasts not important?  Now with late diagnosis, I live daily with the fear of recurrence not to mention the increased risk of recurrence.


The article also explains that, "one concern is that ultrasounds and MRIs may pick up too many 'false positives' — abnormalities that lead to more anxiety-provoking tests and painful needle biopsies and other investigations for suspicious spots that turn out to be entirely normal."  Let me tell you I would MUCH RATHER have been a false positive than then false negative I was.  The enlarged lymph node on my left side (noncancerous so far) turned out to be benign and although it is was somewhat stressful waiting for the biopsy and the results it was NOTHING compared to what I have lived through and continue to live through.


A lot of people are visiting this blog but not signing the petition.  I want to clarify that I am totally supportive of women going and getting regular mammograms, I can't tell you how important this is.  Just be armed with the knowledge from someone who learned the hard way that if you have dense breasts the cancer can be missed.  All I would like to ask, is that if you have learned to ask, "Do I have dense breasts?  Do I need further testing?"  from reading this blog or seeing the pieces on CTV please sign the petition.  Please help others and help make a change for the women of British Columbia.

My First Post-Cancer Mammogram - aka Scanxiety or Testxiety

On Tuesday, April 29, I had my first post-cancer mammogram.  I didn't think I'd be too worried about it but as the day grew closer I had this nagging thought of, "What if they miss the cancer again?"  My oncologist had assured me back during treatment that they would look at the post-cancer mammograms very closely.  The mammogram was initially scheduled for October 2014 but I begged the GPO to not wait that long.     That would be a  year since my MRI in October 2013 and it just seemed too long given my history.  A compromise was reached in that I could have the mammogram in April 2014, if I then agreed to wait and have the next one in 2015.   I know that even within our province there seems to be different protocols for post-cancer screening; who gets what when and how often. So I agreed to wait a year for the next one (April 2015), having learnt that a private clinic in my city does breast ultrasounds (necessary for women with dense breasts) for $500 a breast and that with a referral from my GP I could cover myself this October!  Hey at last I get a deal and break on something!  So off to the mammogram I went with my friend P.


The sign on the door said "digital mammography".  I asked the young technician if she knew if the location/centre where I had my first three mammograms had a digital machine, she assured me they did.  I was curious due to my research and this blog post by the head of screening mammography.  In this post the doctor explains that over 65% of the 37 fixed screening centres in BC are digital.    From my reading, digital machines provide better images and if you have dense breasts you REALLY need a digital screening and then more tests.  This doctor was the Cancer Agency's guest blogger for March.  Click here to read the other posts.  (BTW: at 65% that means 24/37 fixed centres are digital).  Hmmm, instead of that elusive cure I mentioned in my initial post, lets get these machines updated.


Continuing on, the very friendly technician tells me she will have to do several pictures from each angle as the machine she was using had smaller plates, or something like this.  I told her that was fine, as I thought to myself do as many as you need to get an accurate picture.  I have already had so much radiation from my radiation therapy, scans and different tests, I really don't think a little bit more will hurt!


She then asks me if the location I went to last year (different from the previous years) did both breasts.  I  was a bit puzzled and replied yes they did both and then they called me back for further mammograms (diagnostic) to the right breast.  She says she can only see the ones of the right breast and will call for the other ones.  I guess for the radiologist to be able to examine and review Tuesday's mammogram of the left breast, he or she needs at least one old one for  comparison.

A mistake I keep making in my battle with cancer is in comparing the education and medical systems.  (I know both systems are overburdened and underfunded and yet both working very hard to do their best.)  I wrote in an earlier post about how I was never "red flagged" by screening mammography and how I wish I had been.  I don't know how many children I have "red flagged" in my career but I do it with the belief that catching a problem early is better!  OK, put the red flag issue aside  as there is nothing to be done about it now and no use crying over spilled milk and what didn't happen!  Back to the fact the technician could only find one mammogram and my latest comparison.  When a child has a problem (academically, behaviourally, socially or emotionally), before taking the child to school-based team (a meeting with relevant school staff where the child is discussed) one of the things teachers do is to review the child's file to see if this problem is new or on-going.  Key word, review.


In an on-going attempt to educate others here is a link to the Fact Sheet on mammograms from the National Cancer Institute website.  They also have information on the different types of breast screening.

worldwidebreastcancer.com

In looking for information to share,  I came across a website called  worldwidebreastcancer.com   It has some great visuals.  I have posted one below but encourage you to go and see the others.  

www.worldwidebreastcancer.com

www.worldwidebreastcancer.com



The site asks that if using an image on a website, blog, Facebook page, or Pinterest page to make clear to others the license terms of this work. To read these terms, please click here.
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There is also a breast cancer risk assessment tool that you can print out and complete and take to your doctor.