Mammograms
Mammograms How long was it after your first diagnosis or when you finished your treatment did you have mammogram to other breast? Did you have blood tests too? Just wondered how close you were monitored.
Hi Granmum I had a mastectomy in November and I am due to have a mammogram on the other breast in May 06. I have been told that I will be seen every 6 months for 2 years, then annually.
Hope this helps,
Love Flora x
mammograms I was diagnosed in Sept 04, after a mammogram in July.
The nurse told me my remaining breast will only get done every 2 years, which doesn’t seem enough to me, but they say too much radiation can also be harmful.
It does seem to vary region to region, whereas my GP told me the NHS have standard protocols they have to follow.
Anne
It varies I was treated in Shrewsbury last time (WLE and radiotherapy) and for 5 years had yearly mammograms and six-monthly checkups, alternating between surgeon and radiotherapy, because I was on a radiotherapy trial. No blood-tests or scans - just a manual check.
I would imagine the chance of cancer occurring for the first time in the other breast is considerably less than that of it coming back in the same breast so I think Anne’s 2 yearly interval sounds likely - more often than normal screening but not so often as to increase risk unnecessarily.
Now i’ve had a mastectomy after a recurrence I guess I’ll find what’s normal for Oxford when I have my first check-up in February,
Kathy
I have both breasts done every year so does my mother - I am 44, she is 75. She was 66 when first diagnosed and I was 40 when diagnosed, so it is not because of a family thing. She was then diagnosed in the other breast last year.
My mammogram is done in July, the month I had surgery and no-one has ever suggested that I only have the affected breast done.
a year I was diagnosed at my first routine mammogram aat hte beginning of last February. I would have had my next late in March before i see the breast surgeon but as he’s going on holiday he’s brought it forward by a monthe to February! I will get no other checks or tests unless i present with symptoms. I am a private patient so i don’t think it’s money. I think they are so hard pressed in this area they seem to do the minimum routine follow up.
Kelley
Checkups Hi Kelley, I see my surgeon privately for regular checkups and an annual mammogram. The frequency is based on what he and I think reasonable, provided my insurer agrees to pay.
Do you feel you need to have more follow up than just seeing him if you have further symptoms? I use my appointments as much to ask questions that have built up since the last appointment as for physical reassurance so I feel that I’m being taken care of psychologically as well as physically at these appointments and that’s very important to me.
I think it’s also the case that private insurers don’t seem to have a straightforward process for their customers to have access to Breast Care Nurses so we need to make sure we aren’t cast adrift after treatment (unless we want to be).
Follow ups Hi Daphne,
Follow ups and tests seem to vary depending where you live. Most literature suggests that 3 monthly checks are the norm for several years then 6 monthly. If my surgeon wasn’t going on holiday in March i would have had to wait 5 months between my final appointment with my oncologist in October and my first check up with the surgeon. I don’t feel this is enough but it seems to be standard around here.
Also i’ve read that people have had blood tests etc just to check how they are after treatment has been completed. My last blood test was before my last chemo in August.
Even the standard radiotherapy here is 15 x double the dose while most areas seem to be 30 x single dose. As our RT department works 5 days a week 12 hours a day with 3 machines going, how on earth could they cope with 30 doses? It would double the work load. It does make you wonder whether decisions are made medically or financially.
I know they say that most recurrances are discovered by women them selves, but we know that by the time you’ve got the symptom the cancer must have been back for some time so its not very reassuring.
As my cancer was found by mammogram,i am not confident that i would find another lump so having someone to check for me, who knows what they are looking for, would be reassuring.
Still i guess we’re stuck with the protocol we’ve got which feels a bit like just keeping your fingers crossed!
Am i just being negative and cynical?
Kelley
mammograms Hi granmum
I am just about to have my 1st mammogram since diagnosis. They will be yearly. I won’t have blood tests, but then I didn’t have chemo. I am on 3 monthly checks seeing the consultant and oncologist alternately. This is in E london.
fantan
mammograms etc I was diagnosed on 4th December 2003 and I haven’t had a mammogram since. I was stage 2 grade 3 , 13/23 lymph nodes involved and I had a mastectomy, chemo and radiotherapy.
It does depend on where you’re being treated; I’ve read of people having three-monthly check-ups for a while then going six-monthly. At Nottingham City Hospital yearly check ups seem to be the norm from the beginning. My last blood test was before my final chemo; my last (and indeed first) check-up was in Febuary this year and my next is !st March 2006.
In many ways I’m glad not to be seeing doctors all the time, but when I read about the frequency of other people’s check-ups I sometimes worry
follow up mammograms Hello louise2
I thought it would help if I added some information about follow up mammograms. Following a mastectomy, a mammogram is usually carried out on the unaffected breast every two years and from the information that you have given it may be worth contacting your breast care nurse in order to clarify what your local policy is. If you wish to discuss this further please feel free to contact our helpline on 0808 800 6000 which is available Mon-Fri 9am-5pm and Sat 9am-2pm or alternatively you can send an email to our Ask The Nurse service.
KInd Regards
Bcc Host
Mammogram I’ve been told I will have a mammogram once a year. A word of advice - take someone with you - it might seem obvious but I was fairly confident there was nothing wrong and went on my own - thankfully nothing was wrong but as soon as I walked into the room and saw the mammogram machine a wall of emotions hit me. I just went right back to the day I first went to get my lump checked out. I was then asked to wait while the nurse checked the films, well by the time she came back I was in a right state and had convinced myself the cancer had gone to the other breast. Thankfully all clear (and I burst into tears when the doctor told me, sheer relief), but next time I will definitely NOT go alone. Best of luck everyonexxx
— It’s always worth telling the radiographer you’re in a tizz. Then if there’s anyone available they’ll ususally take your pics to be vetted -result good news instantly [well nearly] and no fortnight’s worrying.