I go for regular mammograms every second year, religiously, faithfully. I haven't ever skipped to my recollection. My aunt (Mom's sister) died of breast cancer in the early 70s. So did her daughter, my cousin. Her daughter in turn underwent treatment for breast cancer and thankfully survived. I am always relieved when my letter comes back saying that everything is A-OK. Lately however, I have been thinking that I should have a yearly check-up. (Wonder why?) But how? The screening program only allows for screening every 2nd year. Then I found a clipping tucked away in a drawer and I was intrigued. It talks about Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging. It works on the principal that, where there is an inflammation on the surface of your body, the digital apparatus will pick up on that inflammation and provides an instant image of the area involved. Now it is not a good idea to believe everything you read 😏 and I prefer to talk about personal experiences. So I phoned up the clinic where this service is being offered and tried to get an appointment for a breast DITI. But when I told the naturopath, who handles this procedure, that I am currently taking chemotherapy, she replied that in order to get a good baseline (i.o.w. you should be nearly perfectly healthy for the first scan) I would need to wait at least 6 months after I finish chemo. Otherwise it would really mess with the results. Fair enough. Any subsequent scans get compared to the healthy baseline one. So if you have problems to start with it is not the perfect time to be doing this. And there is a cost involved of course.
I did some more digging on this matter and found that the conventional medical profession is against this procedure because it had women going "in droves" to get unnecessary mammograms and thus "clogging up the breast screening program for other women who really needed to be screened". But excuse me, my husband had yearly FIT tests ordered by his physician and no one squawked about that. And also "More than 95% of men and women referred for colonoscopy do not have cancer." (source: Screening Program for Colorectal Cancer) Does that not clog up the system with a certain amount of unnecessary colonoscopies being performed also? Having said all that, I do not know of anyone who ever has been through this process to see if it actually works. I am just putting it out there as a possibility. And you do have to pay out of pocket. No free medicare here!
Next: Is there perhaps another method available?
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