Finding frank has been a personal revolution. So, in this blog I have decided to share more of frank in the hope that you might get off your butt and go and get a mammogram. If you’re a bloke reading this, then perhaps this blog will help you to inspire the women in your life to get off their butts and get that mammogram!
That’s fairly frank of me already.
I don’t apologise for frank turning up here, nor in my memoir. I suppose that is pretty obvious to everyone from my chosen title Show Us Your Tits – Baring All and Beating Breast Cancer.
I’m going to share here the TOP 4 reasons why Australian women aged 40+, do not attend regular mammography. (Source: BreastScreen Australia)
TIME
Perhaps your mammogram is overdue or perhaps you are a 40+ female and have not begun your mammography journey…yet.
I’m sure it is something you mean to get around to. It is definitely on your ‘to do’ list. Right?
It can wait.
But can it?
Can finding breast cancer early…wait…until it is no longer early, but LATE? A late breast cancer diagnosis means it is incurable. Treatable, but not curable. You will live with the disease for the rest of your life and need to deal with ongoing treatment and the side-effects on your body until it gets the better of you. (Frank… again)
So, let me guess. You just don’t have time for a mammogram?
BOLLOCKS
I don’t believe you!
What you’re really saying is that you have not prioritised yourself. You have, like many of us, put your life commitments of work, mothering, running a household, volunteering for this and that, ABOVE your own health.
YOU’VE GOT YOUR PRIORITIES WRONG DEAR FRIEND!
You won’t be able to work, mother, run a household or volunteer for anything when you’re DEAD. (Hello Frank – that was a BIG statement!)
Make that appointment. It takes 20 minutes, once every two years. You can find that time – for your family, for your loved ones, for YOU!
BREASTSCREEN 13 20 50 or book online.
PAIN AND DISCOMFORT
Oh. You haven’t gone to get your mammogram because your concerned about the pain and discomfort of having a booby-squish.
That ain’t nothin’ honey! Not even on the radar of pain and discomfort when compared to breast amputation, systemic poisoning (aka chemotherapy), radiation burns and hormone blocking treatments.
I scoff in disbelief in your general direction! (Oh Frank, that’s a bit much.)
Come on. In reality, it is 1 minute of discomfort x 2 breasts. Will you feel OK telling yourself that your breast cancer diagnosis of stage III or IV is OK because you avoided 2 minutes of discomfort over the past few years? Hmmm…..that doesn’t really weigh up now does it?
Make that call – BREASTSCREEN 13 20 50 or book online.
POSITIVE DIAGNOSIS
Perhaps your mammogram is still overdue because you’re worried about what might be found. You’re worried that you might get a positive diagnosis, so you’re just avoiding it and sticking your head in the sand.
Believe me. If there is something nasty growing in your boob, you want it identified ASAP. The sooner it is found, the more that can be done, the more likely you are to still be breathing in five years, and the less it will cost you financially and emotionally.
Yep – you know the drill – BREASTSCREEN 13 20 50.
EMBARRASSMENT
I had a conversation recently with a woman who had just turned 50 and received her first invitation to screen. She was, like many, surprised when I told her that she had already been eligible for a FREE mammogram for 10 years. Even after explaining my story, and sharing some stats, she was adamant that she would never get a mammogram because it would be way too embarrassing.
WTF? (Frank, I can’t get my head around this one at all!)
The radiographers at BreastScreen do this ALL DAY EVERY DAY. They are trained professionals. They see all sorts of breasts – very small, extremely large, perky, droopy, uneven, post-surgery and augmented. They’ve already seen whatever you’ve got to offer up onto the mammogram plate, and won’t raise an eyebrow at your rack. They just want you to turn up, be proactive and get your screening done. They want to be busy, finding breast cancer and saving lives. Perhaps saving yours.
Did you know that the regular screening rate for women 50-74 (BreastScreen’s target age range) is only 56%? Go figure! We have this amazing FREE and professional national service and just over half the of the women in the highest age danger zone attend.
It is even worse for women 40-49. Due to the lack of inclusive advertising, only around 15% of women in their forties attend screening. Women have been eligible from 40 since 1993, (Yes, that is 30 years), and for good reasons too - women 40-49 make up about 20% of all Australian breast cancer diagnoses.
This promotion from 2022, is one of the few BreastScreen advertising campaigns that included women from 40.
So, you think it won’t be you.
You think you can’t/won’t get breast cancer.
Yep. I thought that too.
BREASTSCREEN 13 20 50 or book online.
GET YOUR MAMMOGRAM FOR FREE IN 2023!
JO xx
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