I give up

theatlantic:

The Negative Mammogram Myth

Mammography is an imperfect test. A “normal mammogram” report does not mean that a woman does not have breast cancer. Overall, mammograms will pick up 80 to 90 percent of cancers. That’s pretty good, but there are still 10 to 20 percent of cancers that will not be seen, and will present as an “interval cancer” with a palpable lump, as in the example above.

The cancer detection rate plummets in women with dense breasts to only 40 to 50 percent of cancers picked up on a mammogram. That’s about the odds of a coin toss. This is ineffective screening by anyone’s standards. Read more.

[Image: Stacey Vitiello]

I rarely share this story but I will because it’s important.  

When I was 19, I found a lump in my breast.  I freaked out.  I went home that weekend and saw my mother’s gynecologist.  I had a mammogram.  It was one of the most painful medical procedures I’ve ever had to endure (and I got 10 stitches in my scalp when I was 6).  I almost fainted from the pain several times.  

When I went to see a breast cancer specialist that was recommended by a friend of my mother’s, he almost laughed:  for women with dense breast tissue (i.e. most young women) mammograms don’t mean anything.  

Thankfully, my lump is benign (I still have it).  It’s called fibroadenoma. 

If you’re ever in a position to need breast imaging, insist on an ultrasound.