I'm one of the lucky ones.
My doctor had been recommending a mammogram for several years, but I didn't take her advice. I had no insurance coverage for mammograms and there always seemed to be something else that needed that $130. I rationalized that I didn't really need a mammogram because I was not in a high-risk category -- there was no family history of breast cancer; I did self-exams; I had yearly checkups and my doctor hadn't felt any lumps...
In the spring of 2004, instead of just recommending a mammogram, my doctor insisted and gave me a phone number. She said that if I contacted the Healath Education Council, they would arrange for a mammogram and would cover the cost. No more excuses -- I made the appointment.
The mammogram showed an irregularity. So I had a second mammogram. And then a consultation with a specialist. He couldn't feel a lump either, but the mammogram showed one. So he did a biopsy on the lump. The next day I found that I had joined a club that no one wants to join: I had breast cancer.
Surgery was scheduled the next week. It was followed by six weeks of radiation treatment. Initially, I hesitated about the surgery and radiation .... until my doctor asked if I wanted to be able to attend my youngest daughter's high school graduation in 2011.
Fortunately, I didn't need chemotherapy. The breast cancer was small and hadn't spread. We'd caught it in time.
I feel somewhat awkward with the label "breast cancer survivor". I never felt a lump; I didn't have any pain; I was never sick. How can something that doesn't make you feel sick be so dangerous? I sometimes wonder if this was all a mistake. But then I look at the pathology report: breast cancer.
I am the "poster child" for early detection. The mammogram detected my breast cancer. The specialist said it would have been at least a year, maybe two, before the cancer would have been large enough to be felt as a lump.
Whether you have symptoms, or you're healthy and have no "risk factors", you need to have that mammogram! If the cost is the thing holding you back .... there is help for that. So make that call and get that mammogram. Your life may depend on it!
As for me, I'll be going to my daughter's high school graduation in 2011, because I got the mammogram that I thought I didn't need and couldn't afford.