We invite you to join in the conversation by leaving a comment below.
Read More:
“Why Doctors Are Rethinking Breast-Cancer Treatment.” Time Magazine, October 1, 2015.
“Our Feel-Good War on Breast Cancer.” Peggy Orenstein. The New York Times, April 25, 2013.
While I agree with you on the pink-washing overkill, you are an idiot. One has nothing to do with the other. I was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer last October, which was found through a routine mammogram. No family history, no lumps in my breast, nothing. That mammogram saved my life.
I agree with Missy. This is something that I have spent time researching as well. I am a leukemia survivor and had at bone marrow transplant at the age of 23. I am thankful for all the research and cures that have occurred with blood cancers. I in a very small community and each year my community raises over $20,000 for a national cancer organization. If you follow the money, you will find that, just as missy stated–very, very little money goes to research. However, my community blindly gives because this organization does a great job of running an emotional campaign and increasing “awareness”. We need solutions, not ribbons!
WOW!!! How stupid you are!!! My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 45. That was 20 years ago. December 2014 I had my regular mammogram and a lump was found on that routine mammogram. I was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer. I have had a lumpectomy and 33 treatments of radiation. I am a SURVIVOR!!! I was 43 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer and it hasn’t been easy but I am praising GOD everyday that he has blessed me with. I had the genetic testing due to my mother being diagnosed and I do not carry the gene. FOR ALL YOU WOMEN OUT THERE DON’T BE STUPID LIKE THIS PERSON HAVE A MAMOGRAM- IT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE-IT SAVED MINE!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you for the courage to write about the controversy surrounding mammograms. We need to read and listen to all sides of research to truly be informed, and there is plenty of valid studies pointing to the excessive and needless use of these procedures. If we aren’t open minded and don’t take in the possibility for new information then we are just puppets of the marketers and profiteers. Large, wealthy companies have the resources to not only fund studies but create the most compelling ‘marketing’ programs that are created in many forms – not just advertisements, but news releases, documentaries, etc. We all are obligated to take our health into our own hands, be well read and find professionals who we trust that can help us navigate the waters of medical data.
YES! I couldn’t agree with your comments more! Thanks for being so brave and putting this out there.
Everyone has a right to their opinion and to express it. I happen to agree completely with Missy. Women in my family have had invasive procedures and even radical mastectomies only to learn they did not in fact have cancer. I also find it offensive that a certain foundation famous for Breast Cancer “research” in fact partners with many companies who make products known to cause cancer, whether breast or otherwise. I actually thought the percentage that actually went to research was even smaller than 16%. I long ago stopped donating through that venue. Today’s mainstream medicine is all about politics, money, insurance and big pharma and the human and human suffering has somehow become lost in the shuffle. I too, have opted out of mammograms, and much of mainstream medical care as a whole. I am much healthier through diet, exercise, homeopathy and naturopathic care.
Very proud of you thinking outside the box!! We need more women like you! My step mother died of a massive stroke as do many women after they stop HRT’s. I just have to say that we all have to stop driving the koolaid…. What the movie BOUGT… Huge wake up call! Here is what I know about cancer ….. It’s a huge money maker! And that 75% of oncologist wouldn’t do chemo… It’s too toxic???!!!! And I think all Missy was saying is that she wants her money to go to actual research ….now that’s a smart girl who is fiscally responsible! I’m always getting compliments I my clothes I buy from T9 …. I’ll keep referring!!! Wat to go girls! Oh, just a side note…. We are what we eat and everything starts with nutrition!! The last time I checked , doctors which I have little respect for now days, only get about 4 hours in the 12 years of schooling about nutrition??????!!!!!!!! But they are all about the medication!! We need to wake up and start demanding our food be labeled GMO or non GMOs! Ok , now I’m done 😉
I’m guessing this goes to a “fake” mailbox, but I have to tell you, there is one thing that you will not find from waiting it out and those are calcifications.
The only way to see them is through regular mammograms that will show if there are changes in your breast tissue.
Yes, only 20% are cancer, but 20% ARE CANCER. Those 20% are pretty darn happy they had their mammogram.
I’m disappointed that you would use your status to post something like this that uneducated people may take as the rule.
I will be opting out of future e-mails and will be re-considering my purchases with you. I know I am only one person. I know everyone is entitled to their opinion.
I have an issue with it when you are using a business and an e-mail to people who purchase from you for your platform.
How about posting the stories of all of those people who are survivors due to early detection. That would be showing a balanced story not a platform for opinions.
This was originally an e-mail until I saw the link to join the conversation.
I have opted out of mammograms as well and have to go through the same conversation of why with my doctor every year. I’m tired of corporate medicine and their “fear” campaign. Doesn’t anyone else feel that our corporate healthcare in the US is more concerned with the bottom line and profits and not an integrated approach to your health? I spend an hour waiting to see the doctor and 10 min with the doctor. There are signs all over the office saying pay first or no appointment. Cancer is big business and there will never be a “cure” There is too much money to be made exploiting the sick by overcharging them for every procedure, test,etc…actual costs of drugs and chemo vs what they charge a patient should be all you need to know in deciding whether or not the healthcare provider cares about you. I do not need a medical degree to form an opinion that the healthcare industry wants you sick and the more procedures and tests you have the better. And if you want to donate please donate to a person or family that’s going through an illness to help them with the burden of the high cost of medical care.
I am happy that you have shared your personal opinion about this important topic. But let your readers remember, it is only one woman’s opinion, and is not legitimate medical advice.
Just being female increases a person’s risk of breast cancer over the lifetime – our bodies actually manufacture the hormone estrogen, which some have implied CAUSES breast cancer. Estrogen hormone replacement therapy, HRT, after the body stops producing estrogen ( i.e. menopause) has indeed been LINKED to an increased incidence of breast cancer in some people, but it is NOT the direct cause of it (if it were, logically, most if not all women would develop breast CA). The causes of this awful disease are complex and interconnected with all manner of internal and external factors, some of which are doubtless not even known yet.
So this is one of the points I would emphasize to you, my dear Missy: since you have a very strong family history of breast CA in first-degree relatives, you have got to know that you carry the genes of your Mom and Grandmother, both good and not-so-good ones. This also includes the genes that were involved in both of them developing breast CA. By definition then, this puts you in the higher-risk category. That IS very scary. But look at it this way – Knowledge is power: since you know this fact about yourself, you can act proactively and perhaps avoid breast CA altogether.
I can understand why you would not want to have mammogram screenings shoved down your throat. Doctors can be very controlling, and sometimes it seems as if they belittle your intelligence unless you do exactly as you are told. I’m not trying to excuse rude, inconsiderate behavior, but most of the time the control thing with them stems from their anxiety about you, their patient, as weird as that may sound. However, they may need reminding that they are only half of the treatment team, while YOU are the other half. YOU consulted them in the first place, and you have a perfect right to refuse their recommendations if you feel it is the right thing for you. The choice is always yours to make.
That being said, there may come a time and place where you may actually want to have a mammogram. No big deal. If this happens, you may have concerns about the amount of radiation you might get exposed to, or have a host of other questions. Never hesitate to ask. There is no such thing as a stupid question. And make a question list, so nothing gets forgotten.
About being proactive – I have no doubt you know about how to take care of yourself, how to live a healthy lifestyle – nutritious diet, plenty of rest and exercise, balance between work and play, cultivating satisfying relationships, etc., etc. Doing regular breast self-exams, smoking cessation, all that stuff. Breast-feeding is said to be a protective factor (if you are in such a situation, that is!)….
On a final note, I can assure you from personal experience that deliberately choosing to view one’s health problem(s) as an annoying but manageable part of one’s life definitely beats feeling like a victim of Fate!
And yes, I am both a physician and a patient – not breast CA, but 30 years’ worth of rheumatoid arthritis and now congestive heart failure & a touch of kidney failure. I’m in some degree of pain every day, but I still love to dance and sing and play with my granddaughter!
My best wishes to you – To your good health!
Very well said. Thank you for that intelligent and well worded comment to this strange mass email.