By John Ballard
Not gonna make a big deal about it but readers need to have this pair of links.
You or somebody in your life will face breast cancer and will need to be informed.
These two posts at Maggie Mahar's place are must-read items for anyone facing this diagnosis.
...Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC), the type of cancer that invaded Amy Berman�s body, does not manifest itself as the �lump� that most of us associate with breast tumors: �When it is found, it is almost always in a late III or IV stage � meaning that it has metastasized (spread) to other parts of the body.� And �it is often missed by mammograms.� A woman may have a �clear mammogram�-- and be diagnosed with IBC a year later.
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...the majority of women over 70 who are diagnosed with breast cancer will die of something else before the disease catches up with them. In this way, breast cancer is like prostate cancer: a great many older women will die with the cancer, but not from it, and most would never know they had it --unless someone insisted on a mammogram. This why the College of Physicians believes that the risks of unnecessary treatments outstrip benefits.
?Breast Cancer-- Living with the Disease -- part 1
?Breast Cancer-- Living with the Disease, Part 2
This is not just for women over 70, by the way. And it's not just another sales pitch for palliative care, either. Lots of solid information just to have at your disposal if you aim to be an informed "consumer."
(And that's who we are expected to be, you know. We are consumers first, then patients. And it will continue to be that way unless or until the medical-industrial complex gets "into" real patient-centered, informed healing.)
I finally convinced my 89 year old mother's doctor to quit the mammograms about three years ago.
ReplyDeleteThe task of caregiver is not appreciated by most people, even those with family members receiving it, when they are not the ones doing the hands-on, day to day work involved. I see it myself all the time in my work as a private-duty caregiver.
ReplyDeleteRon, your mother is extraordinarily fortunate to have your care and counsel. In this instance, she and her doctor illustrate how medical care can become the prevailing concern for an aging generation, often delivering more anxiety than necessary (along with the bills). And as you said, you had to convince the doctor because despite all the arguments, we as patients -- and in the case of very old people, those responsible for their care -- rarely have either the courage or the information to take any other course than medical professionals suggest.
When my mother came to live with me and my wife, we took her off a couple of medications and declined suggestions for any of those popular prescriptions for dementia and Alzheimers. She lived another five years, passing quickly at the age of 93 from an inoperable lung tumor that was discovered only three weeks before her death.
John
ReplyDeleteI think the thing I had to convince her Doctor of was that I was not one of those people who wanted him to do everything he could regardless - many people do. Now he knows what I expect and will say "we could do this but I'm not sure it's worth it".
Indeed a solid information! and Thanks for the links.
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