In our Speakers Corner report, we hear from an Oshawa woman who admits to lying at a recent medical appointment so she could get a mammogram.
Earlier this year, 38-year-old Sidra Lone was busy raising her four kids and working as an early childhood educator at the Durham District School Board when she started to notice more and more colleagues being diagnosed with breast cancer.
“Over the course of several months, I met three supply teachers who were recently diagnosed. They were telling me I should have a mammogram.”
But Lone had no symptoms nor a family history, and she also discovered her age was a barrier in requesting one. As it stands now in Ontario, only women who are 50 and older can self refer for a publicly funded mammogram, although that will soon change.
“Something inside me was just saying I needed to do this”
But Lone still tried by going to a walk-in clinic and making the request.
“When I asked for a mammogram, a nurse checked my breast and said I have no lumps and I didn’t need it, I was too young.”
She went on with her life. Weeks later, she met another colleague who was also diagnosed.
“Something inside me was just saying I needed to do this.” Which brought her to her family doctor last April, where she once again was questioned.
“She said, ‘Do you have a family history?’ This time I lied to her. I said, ‘I do.’ She said, ‘Okay, you know what? I’ll give you a mammogram.’”
Lone was then diagnosed with stage two, triple negative breast cancer.
“When I told my oncologist my story, she told me I saved my own life.”
Breast cancer rising in younger women, researchers say
Lone isn’t afraid to admit she lied to get the screening she felt she needed.
“I shouldn’t have had to lie, I think women should be able to get a mammogram earlier than the age the government mandates.”
“I felt like my lie saved my life“
While women at any age who show symptoms or have a family history of breast cancer can get screened, others like Lone, who don’t fall into that category, may have to wait. But many provinces across Canada have lowered the minimum age for mammograms covered by public insurance, with Ontario following suit soon.
“Starting October 8, Ontario is shifting to allow women 40 and above to request one,” said Dr. Jean Sealy, professor of medicine in the Department of Radiology at the University of Ottawa. She is also founding president of the Canadian Society of Breast Imaging.
“We’ve been advocating to lower the screening age for over 12 years. It’s been a major change in policy.”
Sealy helped publish a report, submitted to Statistics Canada, which shows incidents of breast cancer rising in younger patients. Researchers have noticed a jump of cases impacting women 20 to 29 since 2001.
“The incidence for women in their 20s of getting breast cancer is 5.7 per 100,000 so it’s a very low rate but It’s not zero, has increased significantly in the last 35 years and we have to take note,” Sealy said. “A woman in her 30s has a 42.4 per 100,000 incidence of getting breast cancer, so it’s already starting to rise, but it really increases in the 40s, where it’s 139.4 per 100,000.”
Dense Breast Canada, a non-profit organization which advocates for optimal breast cancer screenings, launched a public service campaign “Not Too Young.” The photo essay series shares stories of Canadian women diagnosed with breast cancer who were thought to be too young for screening.
“Every woman in this series had to fight against the belief they were too young, fight for attention from their doctors, fight for diagnostic testing, and it turns out, were fighting for their lives,” the campaign states.
How young is too young for screenings?
Researchers like Sealy are celebrating the lower age for mammograms, but caution screenings do come with some risks for those younger than 30.
“Although the mammogram uses a fairly low dose of radiation, there is a higher risk if you’re younger. So for someone who has no symptoms, we would want to start no earlier than 30.”
But Sealy says people in their 20s should be paying attention to the rising cases and look at prevention.
“Alcohol does increase the risk of breast cancer in men and women. Exercise is very important. It helps to reduce the risk of cancers overall.”
While living a healthy lifestyle can help it doesn’t exempt someone from the disease and Sealy has seen several cases to prove that.
“I have seen women who do everything they’re supposed to and still get diagnosed,” she said. “We don’t know the reasons why. It could be environmental exposures, it’s probably multifactorial, but I think being aware of any changes in the breast and really seeking medical attention if there are changes is key, so people should be regularly self monitoring.”
Sealy doesn’t dismiss the chance the minimum age for mammograms could be lowered in the future, in the meantime she says more work needs to be done.
“One thing I would say is that we are behind in identifying high risk women. We don’t do a good enough job, proactively. Over half of women get breast cancer under the age of 50 so we have to really try to target them,” she told us. “But at the end of the day, if a woman really wants to be screened and she has decided that she wants to take the risks, I think we should not be denying that opportunity.”
A statement Lone, who is now undergoing chemotherapy in hopes to beat her illness, echoes.
“I felt like my lie saved my life. I had to lie. I don’t want any other woman to go through this. Early detection is the key.”
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