I had my first at 35 (I'm now 58) because my mother had BC at age 41 in 1971. For a while, I had a yearly mammogram, but I got lazy and kind of slacked off to every other year, and now I've not had one for three years. But I've also not visited a doctor in three years because I am not sick.
In my state, a law requires insurance to pay for screening mammograms.
In my mother's case, in 1971 she underwent the at-the-time standard treatment of a full-radical mastectomy, meaning not only breast tissue, but also all the nodes and underlying muscles. It was terrible for her. But she did not need any other treatment. Three years ago, at age 80, a routine mammogram found two spots in her other breast. One was DCIS that was excised during the biopsy, the other was a very small nearby invasive. She opted to have that breast removed as well. This surgery was much less intense and radical. She also did not have to do any adjuvant treatment like chemo or radiation as the oncologist said the science for treating such small cancers in older women was not supportive of more aggressive treatment. She is doing well now. The upshot of course is that I should be more diligent, but in reality, I'm not. I guess I figure if I got past 41, I was kind of home free. Yeah, I know that is wrong, but I do think there is evidence of over-aggressive treatment. I worry far more about heart disease than cancer.
