I am a 52-year-old woman who has had mammograms yearly since I was 35 years old.
For approximately eight years doctors followed me carefully, as my annual mammogram at 43 years old showed three calcifications seemingly forming a pattern. They followed these for eight years. I had special mammograms enlarging the area to be certain. They remained the same for years. No changes.
In January 1997, I began HRT (hormone replacement therapy). It is not possible to determine if the HRT caused the enormous increase of calcifications. I missed my mammogram in November 1997 as I was relocating across the country. I had my next one in November 1998. The calcifications had grown into a large cluster more than several centimeters in size. I had a lumpectomy in January 1999. Early DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ), high grade with a questionable margin was diagnosed.
I had seven weeks of radiation and a clear mammogram in November 1999. When I went for my lumpectomy post-op checkup the surgeon told me I had breast cancer. I was stunned. I felt numb. I couldn't think to ask him any specific questions, just to get home to my family and try to digest the diagnosis.
I called the oncologist and radiation oncologist and scheduled an appointment. Meanwhile I got on the Net and found out everything I could about DCIS ... a storehouse of conflicting information. The only thing the docs could agree about is the standard of treatment: radiation.
My family was devastated. We still didn't know how serious this was. It took a few weeks, an appointment with the oncologist, a lot more research on the Net and speaking with friends who had experienced breast cancer in far more advanced stages to understand DCIS.
Friends, family, strangers sent me cards, letters, e-mails and so much support. My partner gave me incredible emotional support. My adult children were terrified but felt much more confident as we learned more. It alerted my 22-year-old daughter to watch her own health carefully and sent my younger sisters and my brother's wife to the gyn for mammograms.
It was a major wake-up call for my family and me. It has reached to women I have just struck up conversations with in the grocery store and doctors' offices: A mammogram just may save your life. Had I waited many more months, it would have been invasive and an entirely different course of treatment.
Tell all women: You don't have to have a family history of cancer. Find out so that if you do have breast cancer, in ANY stage, you have options. Don't rob yourself of choices due to fear.
"Cherie19@aol.com" is a 52-year-old medical administrator living in Portsmouth, Va. She can be reached at cherie19@aol.com.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not represent medical advice or the views of ThirdAge Media.
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