It happened to me again this year. I had my annual mammogram and I got this emotionless, clinical letter afterwards that basically said they might have found something, so they want me to come in so they can take another look. This never fails to freak me out.
You see, breast cancer is a poisonous canker that runs throughout my family tree, threatening to rot away entire branches and spread throughout the system. Because of that I’ve been getting mammograms since I was 19 years old. Better to be safe than sorry.
The beauty of this is that even in my most under-insured of times, these procedures have not cost me a penny, because insurance companies, for once using some common sense, realized long ago that it is cheaper to provide these mammograms than it is to treat someone’s breast cancer.
But now even that is under threat, because a recent study has come out that seems to conclude that mammograms aren’t effective. They say that out of 100,000 women, they detected “only” 122 more incidences of breast cancer than routine breast exams did.
122 women with another chance at life. That, to me, is significant. That, to me, is worth it. But from a clinical, emotionless point of view, apparently not.
The problem with this study is that it involved mammograms spread out over well over a decade, and mammogram technology has improved greatly during that time. Another HUGE problem with the study is that some women will read about it and think, “Whew! That’s a load off. I never liked getting those things. Now I’ll just skip it.” And they might be one of the ones who could be saved by this exam.
Another problem is that if you don’t think about it carefully, you might mistakenly conclude that mammograms detected breast cancer in ONLY 122 women out of 100,000 and that is not the case at all. They detected the same number as breast exams did, PLUS an additional 122. And it doesn’t say how many of those women were lazy about breast exams and would not have been detected otherwise.
According to Susen G. Komen for the Cure, it is estimated that in 2014 in America, 232,670 new cases of breast cancer will be detected, and 62,570 new cases of in situ breast cancer will be detected. There will also be 40,000 breast cancer deaths. That’s scary. That is a reason to take any type of prevention seriously.
A mammogram might take an hour or so out of your year, but it could give you your entire life. I like those statistics. I’d rather gamble on that than the lottery any day.
So I did go back and get re-examined. And it turned out that all is well. That’s me heaving a heavy sigh of relief until this time rolls around again next year. Worth it? Oh yes.
[Image credit: ymcastlouis.org]
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