Home Stories Linda's Story

Linda's Story

Name: Linda Meola
Date of Diagnosis: December 3, 2008
Age at Diagnosis: 53
Stage: 3
Time from "normal" mammogram to cancer diagnosis: 0 to 3 months
How was cancer detected?: By me

I was first diagnosed with Stage I breast cancer in April of 1997. I was 41 years old at the time. In October of 2001, my blood markers spiked out of range but my doctor told me the test was not that reliable and further testing would probably just result in costly lab work. I continued to have annual mammograms and exams but in November of 2008, at the age of 52, I found a lump in my auxilla. It turned out to be Stage III breast cancer that mammograms had missed for seven years. Even when the tumor site was known, with my body jammed sideways into the machine, mammogams could not detect the lump. Why didn't my doctors use an MRI or Ultrasound to follow me after the first diagnosis? I am 53 years old and the medical failure of mammograms has reduced my chances for a full life.

Back to Stories

Learn More

Nancy's Story

A Tale of Two Cancers

Donate

Contact

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.