You have been diligent about getting your mammograms done each year. Then Boom! After your most recent mammogram, you received the devastating news, that you have been diagnosed with stage 3 or even worse, stage 4 breast cancer. How is that even remotely possible? You have been extremely diligent about getting tested. Oh wait, What’s that slogan that they have been feeding the world?
Oh, here it is: EARLY DETECTION IS THE BEST PREVENTION. Does that sound familiar? Yes indeed! And while that slogan holds true…
Hold on. Let me let you in on a little secret:
Mammograms DO NOT detect EARLY STAGES of breast cancer. Say what? You heard me right. Mammograms can only detect cancer when the tumor is LARGE ENOUGH. That simply means that it has been growing for a few years, hence the advanced stages of breast cancer when diagnosed.
Feel free to ask your doctor if a mammogram can detect cancers while in the EARLY STAGES.