A number of years in the past, I did one thing I might been avoiding. I acquired a mammogram. I had a dozen causes for not eager to get one. As I stated then:
“Getting a mammogram isn’t enjoyable. That’s, it’s not one thing you schedule since you sit up for having your varied physique components draped awkwardly round a machine after which mashed like a potato. And who doesn’t love getting bare with complete strangers? (Reply: Me.)”
For Breast Most cancers Consciousness Month, I took a glance again at 4 ladies whose mammogram tales are so totally different, however encourage me to maintain up with my screenings. You do not have to be at excessive danger for a mammogram to avoid wasting your life.
“You simply need to do it” – Robane on the Bus
Living proof: Robane Beroza. Like me, she didn’t have a household historical past of breast most cancers. She wasn’t excessive danger for the illness. Nonetheless, she acquired her mammogram yearly. It was simply a part of her routine.
And Robane had the possibility to get hers completed on the cellular mammography unit, a bus that travels round to make getting a mammogram simpler for folks all through the area. “I used to be the primary particular person to enroll and the primary particular person on the bus. It was very fast and simple,” she stated.
They did discover breast most cancers. However as a result of they discovered the most cancers early, Robane’s possibilities, and the therapy, have been higher and sooner than they might have been. “I inform everybody to get a mammogram,” says Robane. “My sister saved placing hers off as a result of she was scared. However you simply need to do it. You’re going to be OK.” Learn Robane Beroza’s mammogram story.
“I’d slightly know, so I can do all the pieces I must do to stop most cancers.” – Megan’s Excessive Threat
Not like myself and Robane, Megan Davis found she WAS at excessive danger for breast most cancers earlier than getting a mammogram. Now she rotates between a normal mammogram and getting a breast MRI each 6 months.
This seems like quite a bit. However Megan says, “I really feel significantly better realizing what my danger is and doing one thing about it. If I do find yourself getting breast most cancers, I ought to discover out inside months of it creating.” Megan additionally is aware of that early discovery of breast most cancers means she may solely want surgical procedure for therapy, not chemo or radiation. Nonetheless, monitoring her danger so usually could be scary, however that feeling is helped by her religion in her high-risk care crew:
“I couldn’t assist feeling some alarm after I acquired referred to as again for extra photographs after my mammogram. The radiologist who learn my scans was reassuring and sort. She promised me her crew would all the time err on the aspect of warning. They wished to be completely positive they discovered any most cancers, so they may name me again for extra photographs or a biopsy if there’s ever a query.”
Study how Megan discovered about her genetic danger.
“Don’t delay going to the physician or assume that the ache will go away.” – Sheila’s Many Causes
Like Megan, Sheila Boling had a excessive genetic danger for breast most cancers. Her twin sister truly died from breast most cancers at age 35. However, as a Black girl, Sheila faces some laborious information: Black ladies usually tend to get breast cancers which might be laborious to deal with. They’re additionally extra more likely to die from breast most cancers.
On high of these odds, breast most cancers signs in Black ladies aren’t all the time the identical as they’re for others. When Sheila had a really small ache in her breast, she did not assume it was breast most cancers. She solely discovered that it was most cancers due to a mammogram.
Which is why Sheila advocates for Black ladies to take heed to their our bodies and get screened. “It’s necessary that after we really feel dangerous that we get ourselves checked,” she says. Watch Sheila’s complete story.
“I did some studying and analysis and it seemed like I wanted to produce other assessments.” – Margarita’s Second Opinion
Margarita Figueroa’s very first mammogram got here again with the surprising information of a constructive prognosis. But it surely additionally got here again with “blended indicators” about what to do subsequent. She went to UVA Well being for a second opinion. And that courageous transfer modified all the pieces about her therapy and her care.
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Considered one of Margarita’s docs praised her willingness to “ask what is going on on and why are you recommending this therapy? And she or he was additionally keen to share a few of her struggles… [which] I believe improves the possibilities that we’re going to have the ability to allow you to by a most cancers journey.”
Margarita did not simply go together with 1 mammogram. She went and acquired extra screenings to ensure the outcomes have been proper and that she acquired the care she wanted. Watch Margarita’s complete story.
My Mammogram Story
I used to be avoiding getting a mammogram as a result of I used to be frightened of what I might discover. The factor is, you by no means know. You could be at excessive danger. You possibly can face horrible odds. Or you’ll be able to don’t have any purpose on the earth to fret.
The purpose of a mammogram, like every well being screening, is to seek out out what you do not know. Whereas it might really feel extra comfy to remain ignorant, it is not bliss if you happen to’re lacking one thing that would kill you. And the factor is, we’re fortunate to have entry to specialists who can, if we have now a most cancers prognosis, assist us by the therapy journey.
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My mammogram story is not dramatic. However I am comfortable to look again at what I discovered: That, on the finish of the day, I am extraordinarily grateful to have the ability to get one. I am fortunate to have this entry.
Dealing with the information head-on is the most suitable choice for surviving most cancers. However you do not have to do it alone.
What’s Your Mammogram Story?
We’d all have totally different mammogram tales. However all of us have a purpose to get one. What’s your story? Share within the feedback beneath!
