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Carol's Story

Name: Carol
State: Pennsylvania
Date of Diagnosis: October 8, 2010
Age at Diagnosis: 65
Stage of Diagnosis: IV
Time from "normal" mammogram to diagnosis: 4 months
How was cancer detected?: By me and ultrasound

Finding a thickening in my left breast on 9.11.10 was a day I will never forget. I had a "normal" mammogram 4 months earlier. The prior year I had a negative biospy on the same breast and in the same location. Even thought my breast was itchy in the exact area of the negative biopsy, I remember thinking "I'm home free" as I had faith in the medical community and my 'normal' screening mammogram was just 4 months ago. I began to probe further and felt a hard thickening. I knew that I was in trouble due to the large size. Further tests confirmed - Stage IV with metastasis to my 7 locations in my bones. My oncologist said that the cancer was growing for a long time and the radiologist later confirmed that I had very dense breasts. I am so distraught that no one recommended more tests because of my high density and age. I want ALL women to know about the problems associated with dense breast tissue & to advocate for proper treatment if they have it...I wish I had known! I didn’t know until after-the-fact & when it was too late.

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AYD In The News

What is Dense Breast Tissue?

How Do I Know if I Have Dense Breast Tissue?

What Do I Do if I Have Dense Breast Tissue?

Are You Dense? Fact #1:
Breast density is one of the strongest predictors of the failure of mammography screening to detect cancer.
Are You Dense? Fact #2:
Two-thirds of pre-menopausal women and 40% of post-menopausal women have dense breast tissue.
Are You Dense? Fact #3:
Adding more sensitive tests to mammography significantly increase detection of invasive cancers that are small and node negative.
Are You Dense? Fact #4:
American College of Radiology describes women with "Dense Breast Tissue" as having a higher than average risk of Breast Cancer.
Are You Dense? Fact #5:
While a mammogram detects 98% of cancers in women with fatty breasts, it finds only 48% in women with dense breasts.
Are You Dense? Fact #6:
A woman at average risk and a woman at high risk have an EQUAL chance of having their cancer masked by mammogram.
Are You Dense? Fact #7:
Women with dense breasts who had breast cancer have a four times higher risk of recurrence than women with less-dense breasts.
Are You Dense? Fact #8:
A substantial proportion of Breast Cancer can be attributed to high breast density alone.
Are You Dense? Fact #9:
Cancer turns up five times more often in women with extremely dense breasts than those with the most fatty tissue.
Are You Dense? Fact #10
There are too many women who are unaware of their breast density, believe their “Happy Gram” when it reports no significant findings and are at risk of receiving a later stage cancer diagnosis.