After being diagnosed with “shock” breast cancer, Canberra’s “Cancer Pinup Doll” has a mammogram message for young women

Rachel Evagerow’s aggressive stage 3 breast cancer diagnosis manifested itself as a “major shock” as she believed she was still embarrassed to get a mammogram for several years.

The two mothers said that after encountering a friend’s Facebook post and recommending all women to book a breast cancer test, it was only a “fluke” to book the screening.

“I couldn’t take a mammogram because I felt something or had symptoms,” said Evagerou.

“And one of the scariest things about my cancer is that it started to grow about 8-12 weeks before I was diagnosed.”

Evagerou’s fast-growing 7-centimeter lump was divided into two malignant cancers.

But the sinister growth still couldn’t spread out of her left chest — a little comfort that came with terrible news.

“Cancer is a nuisance.”

The federal government has long provided free screening mammograms to women from the age of 40.

However, despite being qualified 10 years ago, women are not warned about free screening programs until they are 50, so the approach to promoting the test has been criticized.

Ms. Evagelou said she assumed in the process that she was not yet at risk.

“I was based on the idea that if I get a mammogram at the age of 50, or if my family has breast cancer, that’s not the case at all,” she said.

“I don’t have breast cancer on either side of my family. I’m not 50 years old.

“Cancer can take you at any time.”

“Very big gap in messaging”

Belinda Barnier was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in her 50s and underwent long-term chemotherapy and mastectomy.

Barnier’s fight against breast cancer urged the launch of a campaign to increase early detection of young women and called on the federal government to move that communication forward ten years.

“There is a huge gap in messaging and I’m not going to rest until it changes,” Barnier said.

“Currently, women between the ages of 40 and 49 can get an absolutely free breast screen. I want them to get in there and find it and control their lives. I think.

One of the friends Barnier recommended to be checked was Jodie Shepherd, who was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer in her 40s.

Since her diagnosis, Ms. Shepherd has also begun talking to women about being screened at a young age, saying that no one she has spoken to is aware of what they can do.

“No one is aware of this. They believe that the service only saves lives for people over the age of 50,” Shepherd said.

“I think it’s best to review the current structure and educate women from the age of 40.”

Cancer Australia: Communication is “tricky”

The head of Cancer Australia, run by the federal government, said the transmission of free mammogram services was “tricky” and “a little complicated.”

“Evidence shows that screening is cost-effective … when you reach 50,” said Dorothy Keef, CEO of Cancer Australia.

According to Professor Keef, about 19,800 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in Australia, 16 percent of whom are in their 40s.

She urged women to be aware of breast changes and consult a doctor, but said the agency had no plans to change the tack on mammogram services and write to all 40-year-old women.

“What we have to do may be a little more sophisticated in breast cancer screening, so all the different factors of an individual woman are summed up and actually targeted at high-risk people. We will have a screening, “said Professor Keef, adding that any woman with symptoms has access to the diagnostic mammogram.

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But for a woman like Evagerou who endured her first chemotherapy last week, that’s not enough.

“I made the call because it was a fluke, so I thought it was okay,” she said.

“So I think about how long I could wait before I got the mammogram, or if I was waiting for the signs.

In a good mood, Evagerou in a pin-up dress from the 1950s received “terrible” five hours of treatment.

She has adopted the social media monica “Cancer pin-up doll” on Instagram to express her cheerful personality despite her illness and promote early detection among her peers.

“At the age of fifty, all this about getting a breast screen, waiting for a letter by email [or] I’m waiting for you to feel a lump in your breasts before you take action … everyone should get regular checks regardless, “she said.

“Chemotherapy is much more inconvenient than getting a breast exam. Telling friends, family and children that you have cancer is much more scary than getting a health checkup. That is. “