Breast Cancer Awareness Overlooks These Painful Realities
This is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but I think we already know that breast cancer exists and that mammography can detect it. So while we’re surrounded by pink, let’s take a look at some important facts that actually require more attention:
You don’t need as many mammograms as you think
Mammograms can detect cancer that would otherwise kill you, but they can also produce false positives, leading to more scans and biopsies that are negative. And they can lead you to get a complete picture of patients with slow-growing or benign cancers who didn’t really need treatment. So mammography is not a “more is better” method.
The US Preventive Services Task Force states that you should get your first mammogram at age 50 (unless you really want to start earlier) and should have it every two years before age 74.
Other organizations disagree slightly. The American Cancer Society wants people to start at age 45; The American College of Radiology and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists say they are 40 years old. Each organization also has its own ideas as to whether you should receive them every year, every two years, or some combination that changes with age.
You can also stop your mammogram at age 75 according to the USPTF; then they say there is not enough evidence to recommend or oppose screening. Other organizations recommend different end dates, but there is usually no point in finding breast cancer if you are likely to die from something else first. The American College of Radiology says it’s time to stop if you know you have less than seven years to live, or if you don’t act on an abnormal discovery.
Not everyone thinks of their cancer as a “battle”
Nobody wants to be a “victim” of cancer, so it would be a good idea to shift the focus to the cancer patient as an active participant. Maybe they are “fighting” cancer, or they are heroes or soldiers. In the worst case, we say that they “lost the battle.” But many people with cancer don’t like this metaphor.
If it is difficult for someone to beat cancer, it means that people who have died or the disease has worsened, for some reason, were not persistent or active enough. Many cancer patients dislike the idea that they have to be someone else’s hero.
British charity Breast Cancer Care asked several people who had breast cancer which language they would prefer. Here are a few sentences that are not based on war metaphors:
“I prefer terms like living with cancer and recovering from cancer treatment,” says Vicki.
Susan says, “I’m just saying I was treated for breast cancer. This completes the treatment. I really don’t want to be hung up on illness. “
Caroline also likes to keep things simple. “I chose to say factual things like ‘I’m on cancer treatment’ or ‘I’ve been in remission for three years now, and it’s good that I’ve passed that milestone.’
Cancer treatments are incredibly expensive
Even if you get cancer early and “fight” your “battle” properly, you will face high treatment bills. A study of women with private insurance — which you get through your employer or buy for yourself — found that women under 45 incurred $ 97,486 in additional medical costs (including those paid for by insurance) during the year after diagnosis. Women aged 45 to 64 were more likely to develop cancer; their costs averaged $ 75,737.
A previous study of patients treated in 2010 (before the Affordable Care Act was passed) also found the costs to be astronomical. Between how much the insurance company would pay and the actual cost of treatment, there was a large gap – an average of $ 15,000 for stage I / II cancers and $ 50,000 for stage IV. (People’s out-of-pocket expenses should be lower today. For example, the ACA forbade insurance companies to limit their total payments).
But even today, people with cancer still have a lot of costs in the form of co-payments, deductibles, and co-insurance. Half of Americans would find it hard to afford even the $ 100 emergency care , let alone the thousands that cancer patients are forced to cough up.
Cancer charity PinkFund surveyed women who had recently or several years ago breast cancer to find out where they found the money to pay their bills. The numbers are disgusting: 47 percent invested in retirement savings, 26 percent increased credit card debt, and 41 percent missed medication or treatment to save money. Meanwhile, 23 percent increased their working hours to get extra money, but 36 percent lost their jobs or were unable to work.
These costs may not be what you expect when you see a peppy pink ad calling you for a mammogram, but they are real for many breast cancer patients. While we encourage people to “know” about cancer and get tested, let us also remember that cancer comes with serious medical, emotional, and financial baggage.
This post has been updated to clarify that the USPSTF recommendation for mammography ends at age 74 and that after that age they do not recommend for or against screening.