BreastScreen NSW Misses Breast Cancer Diagnosis in Women After Mammogram

In various states, at intervals of just one hour.

I in New South Wales and my sister in Washington had a completely different experience.

By raising my voice and using my position as a journalist, I can not only save the women who come after me, but also make changes to the public system in New South Wales, which I believe is flawed. hoping.

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Just a few weeks ago, Perth’s sister called and said she had booked a regular mammogram. She had problems in the past and was very enthusiastic about doing mammograms and ultrasonography every November.

“Well, maybe I should have one too,” I said.

But I postponed it because I’m a busy mom of three boys, juggling work and writing a novel. A typical case where the head is buried in sand. I didn’t feel urgent because I didn’t have a direct family history of breast cancer.

I went to BreastScreenNSW for the mammogram after calling that my sister had been called back for further inspection. After that, I was convinced that he would tell me any doubts.

Two weeks and four days later, I hadn’t heard anything yet. There’s no good news, right?

But then my sister told me she had bad news: she was resting for three urgent biopsies. She was already prepared for the worst news.

That was the only time I called BreastScreenNSW to see the results.

I immediately apologized that I should have been called and was passed by one of my seniors who told me.

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Why didn’t you contact me? They couldn’t tell me why I missed, but I was told to come “as soon as possible”.

I canceled all of my diary and two days later I spent 6 hours in the clinic doing 3D mammograms, ultrasound, sessions with a breast surgeon, and biopsy. (There is a long waiting period between each step)

Then wait three days to wear down my nerves before I return to the clinic.

This is where my story takes the proportion of “strangers rather than fiction.”

I received a text message from Perth’s mother while sitting in the waiting room 10 minutes before the scheduled time of 1 pm. It was shocking news about my sister: she had breast cancer.

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I was torn between feeling sick at her and feeling a throbbing tension in myself. Then I was led to a room with a sofa and a coffee table. There was a tissue box in the center. At that time, I felt a flood of panic and butterflies in my stomach and something bad was about to happen.

I told myself that it was okay. After all, the clinic had a reassuring poster that 90% of women with mammograms showed clear results.

You never think you will be 10 percent. Cancer also happens to other people.

The counselor sat down, zeroed his bedside attitude, and chased.

“That’s bad news. You have cancer.”

When she answered in a loud voice, “What ?!” she counterattacked, “Yes, it’s malignant.”

Then she explained that I had DCIS, so I was pushed some paperwork in front of me – cancer I hadn’t even heard of.

Obviously, I was so confident and cheeky that even as a journalist, I didn’t do any research leading up to this appointment. I asked my mother, who was comforting her sister, to stop for a moment to call her. “I have cancer too!” I cried. (My poor parents receive news from their two daughters at the same time).

Then I called my partner who was waiting outside in the car. You see, I was confident that I was okay, so I didn’t even bring him as a supporter.

When he joined me, I asked the counselor, “Can you tell me something positive?” At that time, DCIS was found to be one of the more “easily fixable” cancers with a recovery rate of 95% (nothing is easy about cancer!). (My sister, Gunn, is another story. She’s bravely fighting her fight now, but she’ll be fine in the end.)

Private VS Public

The big difference between my sister’s experience in Washington and my experience in New South Wales is that she went private while I was public.

Of course, not everyone can afford to buy private, but for my sister, everything happened very quickly and efficiently. Meanwhile, I slipped through the crack. Without a follow-up call, you could be in a much worse position than you are today.

(It’s interesting to note that just 12 months ago my sister had a clear mammogram / ultrasound, which shows how horribly fast some cancers move). ..

So what do you need to change?

If 90% of women who have mammograms have clear results, why can’t they be put on one side? Those lucky people can get in touch in a couple of weeks to find out they’re okay.

I need to focus on the unlucky 10% like me. Put those results on another mountain and contact people as soon as possible. Communication is clearly a big problem. Is it difficult to contact a minority group and tell them to return to an emergency test?

One of the important roles of cancer screening organizations is communication.

Contact with people of this era shouldn’t really be a problem. Even emails, texts, or even letters are better than no contact at all. I feel that this lack of communication means that my treatment has been postponed for three weeks.

And I’m not going to criticize counselors who are doing a very tough job, but give people the news they fear. But instead of the frank “That’s bad news, you have cancer”, they could probably break the news as if they were talking to a friend.

I felt that what I was told was pretty cruel, and I might not have been able to deal with it unless I was a “mentally strong” person.

At the time of writing, I endured a nerve-wracking 13-day wait after my surgery, waiting to be told if my cancer had spread. No one talks about the pain of waiting for results. Hopefully I can start radiation therapy within a few weeks.

Destruction of myth

When you tell people that you have breast cancer, the first thing they ask is, “Do you have a family history?”

I have no family history. In fact, BreastScreen NSW claims that 9 out of 10 breast cancer patients have no family history.

Then they ask, “Did you find a lump?”

No-Neither my sister nor I had any lumps or other symptoms.

The main point I want to leave to you is that it took two weeks and four days without contact following my mammogram-and I just called for follow-up for my sister was.

Perhaps I am a rare, isolated case. But if it can happen to me, it can happen to you.

LJ Charleston is a freelance journalist.Continue the conversation @LJCharleston