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Hello everyone,
I think it's pretty safe to say that the vast majority of us know the importance of getting a yearly mammogram once we turn 40. I know I sure do. Even though mine have been pretty painful in years past I schedule mine religiously every year and go in and do it, because it is so important to be proactive about my health.
But what do you do if you have a girlfriend who is way over 40 and she just won't get one?
This is the situation that is going on with a friend of a friend. While my friend is really good about going in every year at the same time for her mammogram, she has a friend who is now 50 years old and she's never had one. Never. She's tried gently talking to her and suggesting it but her friend just won't do it. She replies with "Oh I know, I'll do it someday" but then never follows up.
This frustrates my friend because she once lost a former boss to breast cancer, and she learned after her former boss' death that she also never bothered to schedule a mammogram until she was maybe in her 60s. So when she finally went in it was too late.
Do any of you also have friends who are over 40 and yet never had a mammogram? What do you think we can try doing, if anything, to get them to get in and get it done already? I know my friend understands her friend's fears or nervousness about doing it, but she also wants to just pick up the phone and schedule it for her. How can we help encourage our friends to take care of their bodies without pushing them away? Thank you so much for your help with this! I know you'll all have some great thoughts and ideas that I can pass along. Michelle
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Michelle,
What an interesting post. While I haven't always been annual on the dot, I too have gotten mammograms fairly religiously since 40.
I wonder if the fear and anxiety are mostly (a) over the mammogram itself, how it works/feels and whether it hurts, or (b) over what might be found. I know in the beginning when I got mammograms, every time a nurse raised an eyebrow or asked for a second look (oh no!) I was sure it meant bad news. Now that I've had several, I know that's all routine. But we all hear so much about breast cancer that perhaps women are just plain scared of what someone will find. Information is good, but maybe too much information is scary for some.
I think if I had a dear friend who just wouldn't go, I'd be like you and put on the full-court press. I'd probably ask her to lunch (with a glass of wine!) and somewhere in there, turn the conversation to this topic, gently, and explore what's going on. Somehow, someway, I would hope that before the lunch was over, I'd have convinced my friend to go. Perhaps by committing that we'd go together, which would let me set the appointment and get the plans made.
Maybe some women will weigh in here on their fears and anxieties, and tell us what would help them get that first mammogram into their appointment book.
June 10, 2009 - 10:09amThis Comment