AN EXAM WOMEN SHOULDN’T MISS
Mammograms best check for breast cancer
Friends Karen Parr and Shelley Thrasher got together Thursday for their mammodate.
“Happy Boobie Squeeze,” said a message from a friend on Thrasher’s BlackBerry.
It was mammograms followed by lunch at the Walker Grill Thursday. Their mammodate was no secret to family and friends and it’s the kind of friends-supporting-friends idea that seems fitting to share during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
“I knew she wanted to go and I knew I needed to go, so I said to her book us,” said Thrasher who was visiting from Waterloo.
“Book us both and we’ll go together. It’s like a date.”
The mammodate is new for the two but the supportive friends aren’t. Parr said her friends will check to see if she’s followed through on booking an annual physical or other important health tests. As Parr explains: “Really good girlfriends treat you like gold.”
The two friends in their early 50s both know the need for regular mammograms, but a recent survey for the Canadian Cancer Society suggests many women in Ontario are confused about their importance.
Forty-six per cent of Ontario women don’t know mammograms are considered the best way to check for breast cancer, the Ipsos Reid online poll found.
“It’s alarming,” said Joanne Di Nardo, senior manager of public issues for the Canadian Cancer Society’s Ontario division.
“That nearly half didn’t know, that’s a lot of women out there.”
The poll also found 68 per cent of women didn’t know the recommended age in Ontario to get a mammogram is 50 to 69.
“It tells us we have some work to do in terms of awareness and we’re doing that,” Di Nardo said of the misconceptions found in the survey.
“If you are a woman between 50 and 69 you should be getting regularly screened through the Ontario Breast Screening Program every two years.”
Parr, 52, has had mammograms before on a doctor’s recommendation but now that she is over 50 she can book her own appointments.
She said she was shocked more women didn’t consider mammograms as the best way to screen for breast cancer.
“That’s a shame,” Parr said. “You can only feel so much. I just told them I’m not even sure what I’m feeling. I don’t really know what I’m looking for.”
The poll of women ages 18 to 69 found 34 per cent of women think self-examination is the
“IT TELLS US WE HAVE SOME WORK TO DO IN TERMS OF AWARENESS AND WE’RE DOING THAT.” JOANNE DI NARDO
best way to check for breast cancer but Di Nardo of the Canadian Cancer Society said that isn’t correct.
The society says a mammogram can find a lump the size of an apple seed.
On the plus side, the poll found only six per cent of the women surveyed said fear would stop them from getting a mammogram.
The poll was conducted between Aug. 27 and Sept. 7 with a sample of 1,223 women ages 18 to 69 from Ipsos’ Canadian online panel.
In Ontario it is estimated 9,100 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year and an estimated 2,000 will die from it.
Di Nardo encourages women to talk to a doctor or call the Cancer Society if you are confused about when to get a mammogram.
Call 1-888-939-3333 or visit cancer.ca to receive more information on screening or support services.