thank you for sharing your story. I have been down a similar path 2 times though neither spanned m the length of time yours has but it was still too long. All the time in the "unknowing" was so difficult. The system - like all health care - has much to be desired and needs to be fixed to better serve all.
I do hope that the biopsy shows no signs of cancer.
Hello Chana Davis, I loved your post "my breast screening journey" Oct 11th I am an older, retired scientist. I admire your strength and bravery for writing about your experience. Inspiring!!! Keep it up. God Bless. Roger
This is unacceptable. My heart is heavy for you and all women who go through this journey that's made infinitely more difficult by extreme wait times and poor communication. Thank you for sharing your story, and wishing you good news and this chapter closed soon.
Yes it’s a stressful system. When I was a radiologist doing mammography I personally discussed the findings of the callbacks with the patient and showed them the mammogram. I think that helped.
I might clarify that the negative biopsies are not “unnecessary.” In order to find early cancers, biopsies of low suspicion findings must also be done. There are published guidelines on those positive/negative percentages that radiologists are encouraged to fall within to meet the community standards.
Lesions on the mammogram are categorized by the radiologist. Birads 3 needs short term followup only, Birads 4 is moderately suspicious and Birads 5 is highly suspicious. I’ll find an article outlining the positive % that turn out to be cancer, and post it here later. But I know 5 is over 90%. But Birads 4 is much much lower. Below 50%.
Sounds like yours is a Birads 4. There is variability between radiologists on classifying lesions. Sorry you have to wait so long for what must be a stereotactic biopsy or MRI guided biopsy.
Thanks for sharing your perspective as a radiologist, this is great to have. Your comment makes sense, they are not needless, they are part of a conservative strategy. I carelessly used the word because it was in an infographic.
I would love to learn more about the guidelines on pos/neg and how these vary regionally, I recall reading that Europe has different guidelines.
I am so sorry you are going through this. I have as well but in better days and mammogram, biopsy, surgery etc all done in 6 weeks. That was 15 years ago. I remain healthy and am totally grateful for the care I received. It is terrible to know of this decline. Part of the current problem is billing. I understand from an interview on CBC with Paula Gordon that only Linda Warren is undertaking to do certain ultrasound screening etc. Other radiologists are refusing as not paid enough? This should be an election issue. It would be great if you could clarify this with Dr. Gordon. Again, very sorry you need to deal with this. But anger can get a lot done.
Thank you, Chana, for sharing your story - best wishes for a positive (i.e. negative biopsy) outcome. Sadly, your experience is all too familiar. Based on my own journey, the difficulties pre-date COVID. The pandemic shook an already rickety system, from the testing delays through the miscommunications in the screening system to the woefully curt and sometimes inhumane messages to patients - all of those challenges go back at least 10 years. BC has gone from being the best in the world to strained and failing in less than a generation. Hopefully the more people speak out about it, the more likely the powers-that-be will respond and change.
Thanks for the encouragement to keep sharing my story. Your message is well said: "the pandemic shook an already rickety system". I knew it was bad, but this bad... I'm shocked.
Thank you, Chana, for bravely sharing your experience and educating along the way. I'm so sorry you're going through this.
The added stress of scheduling delays for cancer screening and testing isn't talked about enough. And I'd want clearer communication and support if I were going through a similar experience. I'd even want hand-holding. We need more hand-holding in healthcare. But you're right. It's the system that's broken, not the people.
"Data can help, but emotional support is just as important"—so very true. Reading this will help me if I get a callback, which is almost a given at some point, especially since I also have dense breasts.
It's so good you're going through all the steps to rule out any chance of cancer despite the frustrations. Hopefully, you'll get reassuring news now and have an easier time after future mammograms.
Thanks for your thoughtful, encouraging comment. You're absolutely right, the stats suggest you'll likely get a callback at some point. I hope that my experience will help others, and that you won't hesitate to tap into your support network if/when the time comes.
Oh, it’s not just Canada. I’m currently navigating this process in the US — nerve wracking how long it takes to get any solid information.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm sorry to hear that this problem is so widespread.
Thank you for sharing this, Chana. My fingers and toes are tightly crossed for you!
Thank you!
thank you for sharing your story. I have been down a similar path 2 times though neither spanned m the length of time yours has but it was still too long. All the time in the "unknowing" was so difficult. The system - like all health care - has much to be desired and needs to be fixed to better serve all.
I do hope that the biopsy shows no signs of cancer.
Thanks for sharing your experience as well. I'm sorry you had to go through this more than once. Hopefully no more screening sagas anytime soon...
Hello Chana Davis, I loved your post "my breast screening journey" Oct 11th I am an older, retired scientist. I admire your strength and bravery for writing about your experience. Inspiring!!! Keep it up. God Bless. Roger
Thanks for your kind words of encouragement!
This is unacceptable. My heart is heavy for you and all women who go through this journey that's made infinitely more difficult by extreme wait times and poor communication. Thank you for sharing your story, and wishing you good news and this chapter closed soon.
Thanks for your support and allyship.
Yes it’s a stressful system. When I was a radiologist doing mammography I personally discussed the findings of the callbacks with the patient and showed them the mammogram. I think that helped.
I might clarify that the negative biopsies are not “unnecessary.” In order to find early cancers, biopsies of low suspicion findings must also be done. There are published guidelines on those positive/negative percentages that radiologists are encouraged to fall within to meet the community standards.
Glad yours turned out OK Chana.
Lesions on the mammogram are categorized by the radiologist. Birads 3 needs short term followup only, Birads 4 is moderately suspicious and Birads 5 is highly suspicious. I’ll find an article outlining the positive % that turn out to be cancer, and post it here later. But I know 5 is over 90%. But Birads 4 is much much lower. Below 50%.
Sounds like yours is a Birads 4. There is variability between radiologists on classifying lesions. Sorry you have to wait so long for what must be a stereotactic biopsy or MRI guided biopsy.
Thanks for the extra information. Now that I know the categories, I wish I knew what my report says! You are correct it is a stereotactic biopsy.
Category 4 is subdivided into 3 subcategories. Here’s the breakdown I found:
https://www.google.com/search?q=birads+category+4+cancer+probability&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari
Here’s more than you needed to know:
https://gs.amegroups.org/article/view/25640/html#:~:text=According%20to%20the%205th%20edition,risk%20of%203%E2%80%9394%25.
This is helpful, thank you. I love digging into the details!
In the above study 38% overall of Birads 4 were malignant
But if it is cancer the survival statistics are really good for small localized ones. Particularly good if below 1cm in size.
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/breast-cancer/understanding-a-breast-cancer-diagnosis/breast-cancer-survival-rates.html
Yes, the survival stats are great, but the treatments scare me (without knowing what I might be in for).
https://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-cancer-stage-1/
I would have loved to have a conversation with the radiologist early in this process!
Thanks for sharing your perspective as a radiologist, this is great to have. Your comment makes sense, they are not needless, they are part of a conservative strategy. I carelessly used the word because it was in an infographic.
I would love to learn more about the guidelines on pos/neg and how these vary regionally, I recall reading that Europe has different guidelines.
I am so sorry you are going through this. I have as well but in better days and mammogram, biopsy, surgery etc all done in 6 weeks. That was 15 years ago. I remain healthy and am totally grateful for the care I received. It is terrible to know of this decline. Part of the current problem is billing. I understand from an interview on CBC with Paula Gordon that only Linda Warren is undertaking to do certain ultrasound screening etc. Other radiologists are refusing as not paid enough? This should be an election issue. It would be great if you could clarify this with Dr. Gordon. Again, very sorry you need to deal with this. But anger can get a lot done.
Thanks for your kind words. I'll be sure to check out Dr Paula Gordon's work.
Thank you, Chana, for sharing your story - best wishes for a positive (i.e. negative biopsy) outcome. Sadly, your experience is all too familiar. Based on my own journey, the difficulties pre-date COVID. The pandemic shook an already rickety system, from the testing delays through the miscommunications in the screening system to the woefully curt and sometimes inhumane messages to patients - all of those challenges go back at least 10 years. BC has gone from being the best in the world to strained and failing in less than a generation. Hopefully the more people speak out about it, the more likely the powers-that-be will respond and change.
Thanks for the encouragement to keep sharing my story. Your message is well said: "the pandemic shook an already rickety system". I knew it was bad, but this bad... I'm shocked.
Thank you, Chana, for bravely sharing your experience and educating along the way. I'm so sorry you're going through this.
The added stress of scheduling delays for cancer screening and testing isn't talked about enough. And I'd want clearer communication and support if I were going through a similar experience. I'd even want hand-holding. We need more hand-holding in healthcare. But you're right. It's the system that's broken, not the people.
"Data can help, but emotional support is just as important"—so very true. Reading this will help me if I get a callback, which is almost a given at some point, especially since I also have dense breasts.
It's so good you're going through all the steps to rule out any chance of cancer despite the frustrations. Hopefully, you'll get reassuring news now and have an easier time after future mammograms.
Thanks for your thoughtful, encouraging comment. You're absolutely right, the stats suggest you'll likely get a callback at some point. I hope that my experience will help others, and that you won't hesitate to tap into your support network if/when the time comes.
There is interesting discourse on the subject, on no-nonsene YT channel "Medlife crisis " worth considering:
https://youtu.be/yNzQ_sLGIuA