If you’ve gotten a mammogram, thank you. That’s not always an easy appointment to make and could be an even harder one to keep. But we want to tell you something many women never hear. Getting your mammogram may be only part of finding your breast cancer as early as possible.
Here’s what we mean. Nearly half of all women have dense breast tissue. It can hide breast cancer on a mammogram, and it also raises the risk of developing it. The only way to know your density is through the mammogram you already had, and the answer is sitting in your report right now, waiting for you.
So, take a moment to “Check Your Chart.” Open your report in your portal and look for the words that describe your density category: fatty, scattered, heterogeneously dense, or extremely dense. Whatever density category you fall into, it’s worth knowing, and it’s worth talking about with your doctor. If you are dense (categories heterogeneously and extremely dense), you need additional screening. Our RESOURCES PAGE can help you prepare for that conversation.
And please, don’t stop at the top of the page. Keep reading all the way to the bottom. That’s often where a radiologist notes whether additional screening, like an ultrasound or MRI, is recommended because of your density. We’ve seen this small but important note get missed way too many times by both patients and doctors.
One woman found this out the hard way. Months after her mammogram, she finally opened her portal and scrolled to the bottom of her report. There it was: her radiologist had recommended a breast MRI due to her density. No one had flagged it. No one had called her. Even her primary care physician, who had access to the same report, never followed up. The recommendation had simply sat there, unseen, for months. She only found it because she took the time to read her own chart to the end.
When this happens, a woman goes without the additional screening her radiologist thought she needed, potentially missing her chance to find her breast cancer at the earliest stage. We all know that early detection saves lives.
Check Your Chart® doesn’t ask anything new of you. Just a few quiet minutes with a document you already have to gain a little more knowledge about your own body.
Leslie Ferris Yerger is a Tedx speaker, author of Probably Benign, and a women’s advocate with a laser focused mission. Leslie was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer in November 2017 after an ‘all clear’ mammogram and ultrasound, experiencing firsthand the failings of our current breast cancer screening standards.
As Founder and CEO of the not-for-profit My Density Matters, Leslie is determined to empower women to find out their breast density, learn their options, and advocate for themselves to get the additional breast cancer screening they need, so that her story doesn’t become their story.
To learn more about Leslie and access free resources, visit MY DENSITY MATTERS.