Mammograms-Reposted
With October being National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I thought it important to talk about mammograms. I know many women don’t even know what takes place during a mammogram and either fear them, are confused by them, or think they don’t need one. The following is information I found on www.breastcancer.org and then my personal experience with a mammogram can be found after.
Mammograms are probably the most important tool doctors have to help them diagnose, evaluate, and follow women who've had breast cancer. Safe and highly accurate, a mammogram is an X-ray photograph of the breast. The technique has been in use for about thirty years.
Mammograms don't prevent breast cancer, but they can save lives by finding breast cancer as early as possible. For example, mammograms have been shown to lower the risk 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 risk of dying from breast cancer by 25–35%.
Leading experts, the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, and the American College of Radiology now recommend annual mammograms for women over 40.
Finding breast cancers early with mammography has also meant that many more women being treated for breast cancer are able to keep their breasts. When caught early, localized cancers can be removed without resorting to breast removal (mastectomy).
Mammograms aren't perfect. Normal breast tissue can hide a breast cancer, so that it doesn't show up on the mammogram. This is called a false negative. And mammography can identify an abnormality that looks like a cancer, but turns out to be normal. This "false alarm" is called a false positive. To make up for these limitations, more than mammography is needed. Women also need to practice breast self-examination, get regular breast examination by an experienced health care professional, and, in some cases, also get another form of breast imaging, like ultrasound or MRI scanning.
Four things to know about mammograms:
1. They can save your life. Finding breast cancer early reduces your risk of dying from the disease by 25 - 30% or more. Women should begin having mammograms yearly at age 40, or earlier if they're at high risk.2. 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. To relieve the anxiety of waiting for results, go to a center that will give you results before you leave.
3. Get the best quality you can.
- If you have dense breasts or are under age 50, try to get a digital mammogram.
- Bring your old mammogram films with you for comparison.
- Have more than one radiologist read your study.
- Ask if your center has CAD—computer aided detection—which calls the radiologist's attention to any possible areas of concern.
- Make sure the doctor who referred you for the mammogram includes an explicit note when ordering the study (providing clinical correlations—e.g. "palpable mass in the upper outer quadrant, rule out abnormality").
- Correlate your results with other tests you've had done, like ultrasound or MRI.
- Discuss your family history of breast and other cancers—from both your mother's AND father's side—with your doctor.
4. It is our most powerful breast cancer detection tool. However, mammograms can still miss 15—20% of breast cancers that are simply not visible using this technique. Other important tools—such as breast self-exam, clinical breast examination, ultrasound, and MRI—can and should be used as complementary tools, but there are no substitutes or replacements for a mammogram.
—Marisa Weiss, M.D.
It was sort of a weird experience, but I was never in pain. Your first mammogram is usually used as a baseline for future mammograms. Be sure that you bring information about your family’s breast health so they can add that to your file. When you arrive for your mammogram, you will be asked to undress from the waist up and given a gown to wear. The technician will place one of your breasts on a platform of the X-ray machine which is sort of a shelf, positioned to your height. Your breast will be compressed between the platform and another “shelf”. This pressure spreads out the breast tissue so that the X-rays can penetrate and create an image of the entire thickness of the breast. It is sort of weird to have your breast flattened, but it only lasts a few seconds. After both breasts have been compressed and X-rayed, the technician will check the clarity of the X-rays, and do "retakes" if necessary. This does not mean s/he found a lump. It may be that you moved at the moment the X-ray was taken. Then, the mammogram is over. All in all, it maybe takes half an hour. If you have sensitive breasts, you may want to consider an OTC pain reliever before your appointment.