My First Screening Mammogram and the Aftermath

I had my first ever "screening" mammogram on July 24th.  They send the films off to the radiologist and then send you a post card saying come back next year or they call you if there are any concerns.  I was expecting a post card but lucky me got a phone call the following Monday instead.

If you want to know how I was feeling, read this... this is pretty much 100% accurate down to every thought that ran through my head.  The only difference would be that I've actually had breast cancer before and so take what she says and then multiply it by like 1000.

Long story short.. I went in the following Wednesday and they took a couple more mammogram pictures... and then a couple more mammogram pictures... and then did an ultrasound to make absolutely sure there was nothing they were missing.  This was on my left breast (not the one that had cancer).  Thankfully the ultrasound proved there was nothing to be concerned about... it was just my super dense tissue.

It was a stressful 48 hours.  I'm sure it won't be the last time I get to go through that again.  As long as the outcome is always that everything is fine I will try not to complain.

A week later I had my check-up with Dr. Bridges.  He did an exam and we talked and everything is good.  I still see him every 6 months.

New Research

"TAILORx Results Suggest About 70% of Women with Early-Stage, Hormone-Receptor-Positive, HER2-Negative Disease Can Skip Chemotherapy"

When I saw this headline I wondered if based on this additional research it would have changed whether my doctor recommended chemotherapy or not.

You can click on the link to the article below, but the answer is no, it would not have changed his recommendation, but maybe it would have made it less of a gray-area.  The results of the study suggest that women 50 and younger with a Recurrence Score between 11 and 15 typically do not benefit from chemo.

My Recurrence Score was 28.  No regrets on doing the chemo.

Link to TAILORx Research Article