Women over 40 :)

[Sopdet]

Just a quick reminder to book in for your free mammogram.

I was at a school reunion over the weekend and one of my classmates couldn't come because she had just had a double mastectomy, and was starting on chemo.

She hadn't had a mammogram when she turned 40, but a couple of weeks ago discovered a lump, they got her in for a biopsy and discovered cancer. She is 41. We will never know if she had had her first mammogram would the cancer been picked up earlier.

I had one this afternoon.

[Bathsheba]

Yep, I had one soon after I turned 40... but now I'm 42. How often should we have them now? 2 years? Mine was all clear.

[Saffy]

I had one last year when I was 39, was getting little lumps all the time cos of IVF hormones, all clear and it was free too! ( I work for the health care group).

Thats awful about your classmate, someone I went to school with just had a mastectomy too. Scary isn't it?

thanks for the reminder x

[AnyDream]

25% of breast cancer occurs in women aged 50 and under!!! Sadly many of those women suffer delays in diagnosis, like I did.

[Miss_Dee]

Its so important to get checked! I'm still a couple of years off, but I'll be getting checked once I hit 30. My mum got breast cancer a couple of years ago in her mid 40's and also developed a very rare syndrome (paraneoplastic syndrome) as a result. We're not sure she'll ever recover and may be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. As if getting cancer and having chemo and a mastectomy wasn't enough.

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[Sopdet]

Every 2 years, same as pap smears.

[Sopdet]

Its so important to get checked! I'm still a couple of years off, but I'll be getting checked once I hit 30. My mum got breast cancer a couple of years ago in her mid 40's and also developed a very rare syndrome (paraneoplastic syndrome) as a result. We're not sure she'll ever recover and may be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. As if getting cancer and having chemo and a mastectomy wasn't enough.

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If you have a family history you can go earlier.

Sorry to hear about your mum

[Miss_Dee]

Thanks. We were told that they recommend me and my sisters start getting checked mid 30s since Mum was in her mid 40s but I'm going to do it a bit earlier. Had Mum gotten the type of cancer that is genetic, I would have been tested for that gene and then would have seriously considered a double mastectomy just to eliminate the risk.

Now I'm wondering, can you have a mammogram done while breastfeeding?

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[Astrid]

I was meant to get a mammogram ages ago due to my sister's cancer. Sucks that you have to pay when there is a family history. Almost at the big 40, will be booking then.

[Sopdet]

25% of breast cancer occurs in women aged 50 and under!!! Sadly many of those women suffer delays in diagnosis, like I did.

Yeh my best friend got diagnosed at 48, she wasn't aware that it was free after 40, so was waiting to turn 50, thankfully her partner felt a lump, she had double mastectomy and full-on treatment, she is in remission now.

[Miss_Dee]

I was meant to get a mammogram ages ago due to my sister's cancer. Sucks that you have to pay when there is a family history. Almost at the big 40, will be booking then.

I was under the impression you didn't have to pay if there was a family history.

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[Ginger]

Can you go before you are 40?

[Sopdet]

Can you go before you are 40?

Of course, but AFAIK you will have to pay.

[Sopdet]

I was under the impression you didn't have to pay if there was a family history.

That is what I thought too.

[AnyDream]

Young women with close family history can have a Medicare subsidized MRI - which ironically is not paid for young women who actually have been diagnosed (!)

[Astrid]

Really! My GP must not know that. Will call breastscreen and talk to them. Yes my 40th is only 3 odd months away, but I have delayed long enough.

[Sopdet]

Astrid - breastscreen are brilliant, I got in at the one at DJs. The nurse who did my squish was fantastic.