For one moment, think of your mom, your grandma, your aunt or the sweet old lady that lives across the street. Now picture your life without them. Breast cancer has the power to take all of them away from you. A very simple solution is going to get annual mammograms, but there is a lot of fear and anxiety about the actual exam and what can come afterwards.
By the end of this article, you will be equipped with a working knowledge of how mammograms actually work and how you can talk to your loved ones about getting the scan and being able to explain everything to them and hopefully quelling any fears they might have when you do so. First though, let’s examine the problem at hand.
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According to the American Cancer Society, there were around 40,000 deaths of women in the U.S. aged 40 and older due to breast cancer in 2015 alone. Recall that cancer is caused by cells in the body that, simply put, grow out of control. Cell division cannot be stopped because of a missing gene, and because of this, most types of cancer cells form a lump or mass called a tumor. The vast majority of breast cancers begin in the parts of the breast tissue that are made up of glands for milk production, called lobules. Invasive Breast cancer occurs when cancer cells from inside those lobules break out into nearby breast tissue.
Cancer cells can travel from the breast to other parts of the body through the bloodstream or the lymphatic system.The lymph nodes in the underarm area (the axillary lymph nodes) are the first place breast cancer is likely to spread. In advanced stages, breast cancer cells may metastasize, or spread, to other parts of the body like the liver, lungs, bones and brain. There, the breast cancer cells may again begin to divide too quickly and make new tumors.
One solution for preventing this from happening is simple--annual mammograms. These scans use small amounts of radiation to check for the out of control cells to possibly catch tumors before a visible lump is formed. But the main issue is that women don't want to go get the mammogram done because they mostly don't want to face the implications of what happens afterwards. In this case, they feel safer in not knowing because they can continue to go along with their daily lives with their kids, spouse, whoever.
According to Christine Bach, a patient who gets annual mammograms, the scariest thing about finding out you have cancer is not ‘what will happen to my body,’ rather, ‘what will happen to my family, what will they do if I don't make it, etc.’ The fear of not knowing what will happen if diagnosed is what keeps most women from going to get a mammogram.
In a study done by the Journal of the American College of Radiology, 56 percent of women, when asked why they were anxious about mammograms, reported that they were worried about the unknown results. 22 percent were concerned that the mammogram would be painful, and the rest were afraid of waiting for the results, and the overall nervousness for the exam in general. Here is a short video that shows the mammography process. (The actual process is from 1:52 to 2:22.)
The process is fairly simple and quick. The X-ray dosage that is used is not as strong as a regular X-ray, so it won’t go through the tissues as quickly. Because of this, two plastic plates must be used to flatten the breast in order to get as much coverage as possible, which results in a better image at the end. The process takes five minutes max, and it is relatively painless.
The solution to this epidemic of fear is knowledge. Literally, information eases anxiety about mammograms. If women are informed of what the exam is exactly and how much good it can do, it can wildly increase their chance of survival if a tumor is found. Women need to know that getting mammograms can save their lives, and if something is actually found, then there are treatment options available to quickly and efficiently remove their tumors early. It is important to stress that the prognosis of breast cancer is strongly influenced by the stage of the disease – that is, the extent or spread of the cancer when it is first diagnosed.
Because the biggest fear is ‘what will happen to my family if my results are positive?’ It is important to have a conversation with your loved one and make sure that they know that they have a stable support system behind them always. It is the family’s and the close friends’ job to inform their loved one about the dangers and risks of not having annual mammograms and what can happen if cancer is left untreated and undetected. By presenting them with accurate and expansive information about the mammography process and what comes afterwards, there is a much higher chance to convince the loved one to go get the scan and potentially save their life.
Information is vital, but many can simply disregard it if it isn’t stressed enough and if it isn’t deemed as pertinent information relating to their lives. If this information isn’t spread and the anxiety of getting mammograms persists, the death rate will steadily rise and breast cancer will continue to be the one of the leading causes of death in women. Many will lose their loved ones and many will find out too late that the cancer has taken over. This is a bleak, yet pretty accurate prediction, but just like detecting cancer, there is an opportunity to turn this around before it is too late
Sometime this week when you get a free moment, call your mom, your grandma, or an important older woman in your life. Meet with them, if you can, and just talk to them about getting annual mammograms. Explain the process to them and stress how important it is for them to actually go and get it. If they show signs of nervousness, again, reassure them that you are there for them and that breast cancer is much easier to deal with and conquer if it is caught early. If you have any women in your life that are important to you, have this discussion. Don’t let your loved one become another statistic for the world to glaze over. Take action.
