WHY DO CANCER SCREENING

Cancer has been a part of my life for the last 29 years since the death of my grandmother and then my father a few years later. As a family member of a cancer victim you are always reminded of how important prevention is. For the last two years I have devoted myself to volunteering at the hospice program at Calvary and helping my mother who recently lost her battle with cancer Nov. 26, 2010. I have put off taking care of myself so last month I had all the relevant follow-ups needed for a person who has so many family members who died from various forms of cancer. I had my annual pap smear, breast exam and I am waiting to schedule a colon exam after I receive a referral from my primary care provider.
I had pre-cancerous cells removed 3 years ago and I haven’t been back since, not good but after watching my mother’s battle with cancer I know annual cancer screening is key to diagnosing and fighting cancer early. I have received my results from my pap smear and everything was good, then I received a letter from my mammogram stating I needed to come back for further test. Now what does this mean? Like any person who has had a mammogram anxiety becomes my second name and I am concern there is something wrong, I would prefer not to go back but this is unrealistic and I can’t fear an answer to a diagnosis I have not received. Now it will be two weeks before my next appointment and I need to prepare myself so all my questions will be answered.
Ask questions. Regardless of who ordered the mammogram or other study, who does it, and who reads it, you should ask for some immediate feedback if you are told you need to come back to have extra views taken. Needing additional films or extra views often means that part of the image wasn’t clear, not necessarily that there’s a suspicious area. Ask to speak to the radiologist who will be reading your images. You don’t want to go home feeling puzzled and anxious.
Whatever test you have, make sure that all of your doctors and nurse practitioners are sent a copy of the report. When you sign in for the test, let the receptionist know that each one is to receive a copy of the report to follow. You can even come prepared with a list of your doctors’ and nurses’ names to hand to the receptionist. Ask if you can get a copy of the report and, if desired, copies of the films or digital images saved to a compact disc (CD). It can be especially helpful to have the images if you think you might want to get a second opinion about a suspicious finding. For these and more answers to this question please go to:
http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/testing/results_records/get_results.jsp