When was your last Mammogram?

My (personal and) professional recommendations are these:

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I understand that man can have breast cancer, too. Should I, ahem, mammogram, too?

Dan

P.S. Professional, how?

Excellent reminder, Gehanna!

I also recommend doing self-breast exams starting at least by age 20. These issues know no age.

I had a friend who was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 22, with no family history of it. She had it removed, and is a survivor who has taught me the importance of checking, and insisting that age AND family history are not always factors for these things. She is now 30, and is doing fine. She warned me that just because the recommended age to start having mammograms may be in your 30s to 40s, don't let doctors talk down to you and tell you "it's nothing." Always check it out. I was turned down for a mammogram when I felt my lump, because I was "too young." Instead, they sent me for an ultrasound.

I was 24 when I first noticed a lump, and I've since been having yearly ultrasounds/sonograms to keep an eye on it. It's most likely a fibroadenoma (a benign tumor), caused by the birth control pill I used to take (I have no family history of any such thing). Still, it is a cause for uneasiness. I'm planning to have it removed surgically in the next few months just because of the occasional pain, and the fact that fibroadenomas grow during pregnancy, but mostly because it makes me uneasy.

Thanks for reminding me. I need to make an appointment. I just turned 41 and have never had one. Don't worry, I've been properly chastised by my doctor!

I asked my doctor about one when I turned 40, and she stated that without any family history of breast cancer, I could wait until I'm 50 to start. I'm fine with that.

As for monthly self-exams, put those on the list of things like exercise that I know I should do, but don't.

Bad Ruth. Bad, bad Ruth. (There. You don't need to chastise me... )

WriteRead said:

I understand that man can have breast cancer, too.

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Yes, they can, which makes bumper stickers like "IF MEN WERE DYING OF BREAST CANCER, THERE WOULD BE A CURE BY NOW" an insult to anyone who has lost a father, son or brother to the disease.

just be aware of your body - I had my first mammogram just under a year ago since I hit 40....

btw, the machine was, and I kid you NOT, called the Mammomat 3000 - I couldn't stop laughing.

until they squished me good.

and may I also toss in a plea for regular Pap Smears? Three years clean of cancer myself, but wouldn't have been caught in time if not for my yearly test... it's worth the inconvenience, fellow women.

we'll let the men off on this one.

Gehenna, my prayers/positive thoughts will be with you. If I were in your position, I'd be more than a little scared. (((hugs))), and hope everything is all right.

As for pap smears, those I have done regularly. My doctor says that since I've come clean for quite a few years, I only need to have them done every other year. Yay!

we'll let the men off on this one.

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But only if they have a yearly prostate exam...

In the uK we only have smears every three years anyway, and it used ot be every five.

I was 21 when I found two lumps. A girl in the area had recently died of breat cancer at 18, so everyone was aware.
I went to the doctor, where she examined me and found a total of sixteen lumps.
She then seemed to breath a sigh of relief, and said if it was cancer I'd be dead by now, and that I just have very lumpy breasts. They come and go. Some months I'll have two of three, other months I find about twenty!

I've been told I should start having mammograms early simply because it's impossible to feel anything, or know if it's serious.

Please don't kid yourself

Grandmother dead at 52: breast cancer that metasticized to rest of body

Mother diagnosed with breast cancer through mammogram at age 44: that was 22 years ago, had double mastectomy, no gene marker found, she's a very healthy 66 year old

Mother's father's sister: dead in her 70s of breast cancer
MOther's father's sister's daughter: dead in her 50s of bone cancer
MOther's father's sister's daughter's daughter: diagnosed with breast cancer in her 30s, successfully treated, no gene marker (thus ruling out that I would have inherited a gene from my mother's mother's side or my mother's father's side)

Me: began every other year mammograms at age 28; been called back for more twice, nothing found; genetic testing says no marker but I have a 30% chance of getting it based on age of first kid, start of menstration, etc. That's obviously higher than most women, lower than other high risk women.

Now (age 43 next month): I see a doc every six months (ob/gyn then breast cancer specialist), with a mammogram yearly.

Paralyzed by thought that I'll be my mom's age next year, when she got the diagnosis. But hopeful that I'll either never get it or it will be routinely handled when it's found.

Do not mess with this stuff.

I hope you get there soon. Send me a postcard.

Gehanna said:

Well, I'm going to be heading out for this test in about 5 more min. I was thinking....if I do have cancer then it is just going to have to wait to take my life. It can have my boobs for all I care but I'll be damned if I am going to die from it. My husband and I have plans to go to the Fiji Islands some day and we WILL go even if it takes us till we're in our 80's to get there.

Check this pic out : http://www.tropicalfiji.com/fiji_extras/downloads/files/800_Turtle_02.jpg

See that man and woman in the pic? I don't know who they are but they're standing in our spot.

Sincerely,
Gehanna

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I'm thinking positive thoughts for you.

hope this turns out well for you Gehanna.
let me tell you, routine mammograms are much easier than when they are checking a suspect lump. the mammogram i had prior to my lumpectomy (benign)several years ago included about 16 photos..that's a lot of squishing! but my routine yearly ones now that i'm over forty, (who said their doc said to wait until 50????) only consist of four frames. and to think i had myself all psyched up

I'm thrilled this particular story has a happy ending

Might I suggest that doctors create something equally uncomfortable for men--we can call it a Ballogram. Same principle: squish the nuts like a pancake inbetween two cold slabs of metal.

great news! thanks for the update.

mammogram

WriteRead said:

I understand that man can have breast cancer, too. Should I, ahem, mammogram, too?

Dan

P.S. Professional, how?

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Only if you're a masochist. It's bad enough if you've got boobs.

Maggie

This topic has been hitting me like a ton of bricks lately. My father had a double mastectomy when he was 39. I was told that, there's a 20% increase in the chances of getting breast cancer for daughters who have fathers who have been diagnosed. I was also told that I have to start mamograms ten years earlier than the age of his diagnosis, so that would be 29 . . .

October of this year, my mother was diagnosed and had the lump removed. The encologist (sp?) highly recommended that she endure 22 weeks of chemo . . . but she's refused. She said the success rate wasn't good enough, so she's opted to undergo six weeks (5 times per week) of radiation instead.

So, now that both of my parents have had this . . . my sister and I are wondering what's in store for our future. We have no family history on my father's side of the family, nor do we have the ability to access it in any way. So, it's a mystery as to why he got this (aside from the possibility of abuses to his body over the years).

So, yeah, this topic has been weighing on me like a ton of bricks.

I have no history of breast cancer in my family...because of that my insurance won't pay for a mammogram until I'm 40. But you can bet I'll get one as soon as I turn 40...only 8 more years!

I'm also 32. This is the second time my mother's had cancer (the first time was in another part of her body when she was 31), so my doctor and insurance has been great about making sure we can monitor everything as we should. Thank goodness. Otherwise, I'm sure I'd be more of a nervous wreck than I already am! LOL

I had my first mammogram last month. I should have had one sooner. It was a little humiliating, but none of the horror stories I heard about them were true. It didn't hurt or pinch and the operator let me tell her when it was snug enough.

It was kinda cool in that my doctor just opened a new facility with new equipment that displays the images on a screen for you to see as they take them. I recommend Googling normal mammogram results images so you're more prepared than I was. I saw things in the images that scared me, but they were all totally normal.

Yeah, I don't know what all the fuss is. Mammograms are great. If there's a lump or anything, it'll iron that shit right out. No more problems.

I'd love to take credit for that sentiment, but I'm paraphrasing a stand-up comedy routine by Margaret Smith. Funny lady.