Screening letter that no woman should risk ignoring
THE number of women having breast screening is worryingly low (Mail). I worked for 20 years as a practice manager in a busy GP surgery and was disturbed by the declining figures — and so were the doctors. Many of the cases of breast cancer we encountered had not been screened. I dreaded the three-yearly letter arriving, as a mammogram is uncomfortable, but there was never a question that I would not go. How would that look to the staff who were of screening age, let alone the patients? I was shattered when six days after my mammogram in 2014 I received a recall letter requesting further tests. a week later, I had biopsies taken from two areas that I was told looked ‘highly suspicious’. The following week I was told I had two cancerous tumours and that I required a mastectomy. The most striking thing for me is that ten days before the operation at the Breast Care Centre at Blackpool’s Victoria Hospital my surgeon examined me and could not feel any lumps, yet the two tumours were sizeable. If I had not turned up for the mammogram, where would I be now? Those tumours would have grown larger and could have spread their deadly cells around my body through the lymph glands. I could have been looking at a different story if I had not seen a doctor until I found a lump. Four years on, I am here to tell the tale, though I can’t say it has been easy. I suffered from anxiety and depression after my treatment and decided to retire early. To any woman who thinks they won’t bother going for screening when the letter arrives, I say: please go. I know it is uncomfortable and scary, but it could save your life. Breast cancer is easier to deal with in the early stages.
CAROLE BONNEY, Lytham St annes, Lancs.