A plea to all women 40 and over-Get a mammogram

[DesertRat]

Just a reminder that a mammogram can save your life. If a tumor is detected when it is small, the woman has more treatment options and a cure is more likely. For example, mammograms have been shown to lower the chance of dying from breast cancer by 35% in women over the age of 50; studies suggest for women between 40 and 50 they may lower the chance of dying from breast cancer by 25–35%.

Don't be afraid. It's a fast procedure (about 5 - 10 minutes), and discomfort is minimal. The procedure is safe: there's only a very tiny amount of radiation exposure from a mammogram.

The American Cancer Society recommends mammogram screening every year for all women age 40 and older.

Please do it for yourself and for those who love you.

Here's some additional info. about mammograms:
http://www.breastcancer.org/testing_mammogram.html

[AlCzervik]

1. i had mine at 35 because i felt something and now i get one every year.

also, please get a yearly pap smear.

[DesertRat]

2. great reminder. I get both every year.

It's great for peace of mind. :hug:

[JuniperLea]

3. Every year!

On or around Valentine's Day so I remember to do it out of love for myself.

[proud patriot]

18. that's a very cool thing to do

:)

[China_cat]

4. If you can afford it.

Most insurance doesn't cover it unless there's already a possibility of cancer. We make too much to qualify for the $150 discounted mammograms and can't afford the full price ones at $800-$1000 plus another $250 for the doctor to make the referral.

[DesertRat]

5. My insurance pays for one every year as prevention

I am covered by my school district insurance. Before I went back to work, I was covered by my husband's insurance. It also offered a free mammogram every year. It's ridiculous that an insurance company would refuse to pay for one for all women 40+. It can save them so much money in the long run!

[Horse with no Name]

6. Here is a link for you

South Carolina
Information about Getting Screened

To find out if you qualify for a free or low-cost mammogram and Pap test and where to get screened, call:

* 1 [phone]

Program Information

CDC funding for a comprehensive program for breast and cervical cancer early detection began in 1991.
Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program
Division of Cancer Prevention and Control
Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention, DHEC
1777 St Julian Place
Columbia, SC 29204
[phone]
Fax: [phone]

Information last updated: Monday, March 05, 2007

http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/cancercontacts/nbccedp/contact.asp?contactId=148

Good luck! Hope this helps.

[DesertRat]

9. Here are some links to free or reduced cost mammograms

Susan G. Komen affiliates raise money to help local underserved women obtain breast health services. Find an affiliate in your area: http://cms.komen.org/komen/Affiliates/index.htm

Women can make an appointment for all types of low-cost or free health services, including breast health, with the Planned Parenthood clinic nearest them by calling 1-800-230-PLAN (800-230-7526).

Hope this helps!

[mcar]

12. Check with your local hospitals too

The hospital I used to work at offered reduced-cost screening mammograms every year in April. There was no income qualification, you just made an appointment at our diagnostic clinic for the mammogram and you got the low ($60, but it was more than 5 years ago) price.

[TygrBright]

7. What a great idea. I wish it didn't take months of waiting...

...many trips and several co-pays to do it.

There is a "free" service occasionally out of a semi, for women on public assistance, but I'm not on public assistance. My health insurance will not pay for a mammogram unless it is ordered by my primary doc. My primary doc will write up the order, but insurance will only pay if the mammogram is done at a lab that has six-week waiting times. They will not give you your results, only send them to your primary physician. Your primary physician is not allowed to tell you via telephone that all is well, you must come to the office ("privacy rules") and have a follow-up visit to find out that all is well. Thus you pay three times: Co-pay for the initial visit. Co-pay for the lab. Co-pay for the follow-up. Plus the hassle of scheduling three visits, waiting times, and drives from one end of town to the other.

Do you think the insurance company is trying to discourage women from getting mammograms?

irritatedly,
Bright

[Colobo]

8. And for the gentlemen

Get that prostate checked regularly.

[TheCowsCameHome]

10. Be sure go to a reputable facility and avoid discount doctors

Seriously, be sure to get examined on a regular basis.

[av8rdave]

11. Get the mammogram, but PLEASE

get a second opinion from another radiologist if anything doesn't seem right to you.

I lost my mom to breast cancer (her third bout of it in a 30 year period, so she was very conciencious about her physicals/mammograms). Turns out there was an "irregularity" that showed for two years on her mammograms that wasn't caught. Even a "once over" by another radiologist can make a difference.

Interpreting a mammogram takes considerable skill. Some have compared it to finding a snowball in a blizzard. Each time you get a mammogram, be sure the radiologist compares it to previous images.

Mammograms absolutely, positively save lives. But please remember when you get one, it's YOUR mammogram and YOUR life. Be aggressive and assertive in making sure it's analyzed carefully and compared to others you've had!

[Berry Cool]

14. av8rdave is right.

There is a whole lot of difference in quality of mammogram interpretation. And they mean little without other previous mammograms for comparison.

[DesertRat]

16. good advice

I'm so sorry for your loss. :hug:

[av8rdave]

19. Thanks for the kind words...it was 6 years ago, but I still think "what if" a lot

[Berry Cool]

13. I don't want to depress anyone, but I cannot repeat this enough.

1. Breast cancer can NEVER be cured. There IS no such thing as a breast cancer "cure." There is just "treatment." "Treatment" can get rid of the cancer, but it doesn't "cure" it. There is always a chance of recurrence, no matter how small, for the rest of your life.

2. Early detection and small tumor size can make a difference in the options you have regarding breast conservation, but size has NOTHING to do with the success of the treatment. Aggressive, killer tumors can be very tiny, and keep coming back and coming back and coming back. Huge tumors can be lazy and slow-growing and relatively easy to treat.

3. Mammograms mean earlier detection, but they don't always make a difference in treatment success. Some tumors detected by mammograms would never kill anyone.

4. Discomfort miminal? Please! Let's be realistic. It depends on the woman. Me? I'd rather go to Gitmo.

5. We don't know how much the radiation from mammograms can affect a woman's future chances of developing cancer. The American Cancer Society may recommend annual mammograms for all women 40 or over, but the jury is still out as to whether that's a good idea. It would be great to have a means of detecting breast tumors that didn't involve radiation.

6. That having been said, annual mammograms are definitely a good idea if you're 50 or over. Until we get something better, they're all we've got. However, we need to support research into something better.

[tomp]

21. thank you, excellent points! nt

[jwirr]

15. My appointment is next week.

[DesertRat]

17. good luck!

:thumbsup: :hug:

[jwirr]

20. Thanks.

[Nicole]

22. My Birthday gift to myself every year is a mammogram.

Since the mammogram is free, I reward myself afterward.

It's a day long pamper fest so I look forward to my mammogram all year. :)

[DesertRat]

25. that's a great idea!

:thumbsup:

[REP]

23. Might Want To Also Consider Skipping the Fertility Treatments

Fertility treatments have been linked to poor survival rates in women with breast tumors. See http://www.annalssurgicaloncology.org/cgi/content/full/10/9/1031

[Berry Cool]

24. It depends on the pathology of the tumor.

No blanket statement like that should be made without knowing the pathology of the tumor in question.

[Vinca]

26. I refuse to get one until I can have health care again.

I can't afford private insurance and I'm too well off for Medicaid. I can afford to pay for a mammogram, but if anything is found I can't pay for the treatment. I'd rather not know if I won't get treatment.

[Ino]

27. Ditto

Plus if they do find something, it'll be a pre-existing condition should you ever find the means to get insurance.

[Vinca]

28. Exactly. Just before we lost insurance I had a mammogram and

colonoscopy, figuring if anything was found I'd beg, borrow and steal to pay for the policy for another few months, but everything was fine. (It would have been bad enough to have an illness WITH a policy considering the number of exclusions and high deductible.) At this point I'm keeping my fingers crossed and trying to stay healthy. One thing that's frustrating is the erroneous notion that people who don't have health insurance are poor. Not so. Many self-employed (and others) who make a solid, middle class living, are priced out of the market and every year the marker is set higher and more people are uninsured. The time for talking has ended.