October 6. "Early detection saves lives". "Get your mammogram to prevent cancer". We hear phrases like this every October and they are just plain wrong.
FACT: Mammograms don't prevent cancer they detect cancer that is already there!!! 1/
And sometimes they don't even do that: breast density can obscure cancer; lobular and inflammatory breast cancers are often missed on mammos; radiologists reading a mammogram can miss a cancer. 2/
And, as I mentioned in an earlier post, sometimes cancer metastasizes when it is too small to even be seen on a mammo (so there goes that "early detection saves lives" thing). 3/
Men get breast cancer but don't get mammos. Young women get breast cancer before they are even eligible for a mammo. One incredible young woman I know was diagnosed with MBC at age 18. EIGHTEEN 😲. Where was her "early detection saves lives"? 4/
ACTION: All this is NOT to say that there is no place for mammograms. PLEASE get your screening mammos, and colonscopies, and pap smears, and prostate screens for you men. Please eat healthy, and exercise, and laugh. 5/
Another action for today is to stop trivializing and sexualizing breast cancer, and when you see something about "save the tatas" or "I love boobies" call out the person or the company. The goal is to save lives. 6/
And, remember, men get breast cancer and MBC too! #MenHaveBreastsToo 7/
IN MEMORIUM: Today is the anniversary of the birth of Beth Caldwell. Beth was a wife, a mom, an attorney, the co-founder of METUP. She found a lump at age 37, before she even had her first mammo, and was diagnosed with de novo MBC. There was no early detection for her. 8/
Beth was a brilliant, brilliant writer. She was funny. She loved bourbon, and bacon, and drunk history. She loved her husband, and her children, and the first dog she ever owned, obtained mere weeks before she died. 9/
She was a friend. She made a difference - she still makes a difference. Beth is the reason I am an advocate. I am forever grateful for knowing her, and for being able to see her a few weeks before she died. I cherish her memory. 10/
Here are her words on Pinktober
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