Feeling Tormented by Task Force Recommendation

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Janets1
Janets1 Member Posts: 57

As a woman undergoing radiation for high grade DCIS, I feel, in many ways, at the center of this firestorm of new recommendations. For one thing, these very small microcalcifications are only picked up by regular screenings and biopsies - the very tools which we are now told are not necessary and/or cause unnecessary harm and worry. In addition, the idea of treating a cancer which may or may not become invasive is something that most of us with DCIS have surely wrestled with - and now we are more clearly hearing that we should take the money used for screenings and unnecessary testing and spend it on more research to identify which of these cancers are actually the most worriesome. Well, yeah, that sure does make sense to me! But I am beginning to feel duped for walking blindly into this difficult treatment. I find myself poring over articles and discussion boards where I can find justification for what I am putting myself through right now so that I don't feel like someone who may have even caused her own cancer by subjecting herself to yearly mammograms for twenty years! I even posted earlier on another thread that we women shouldn't allow ourselves to feel that way in the light of the new recommendations,  yet here I am succumbing to those feelings after all. The cries and demands for more research in order to identify who is actually at risk for invasive cancer feels just a little too late for me but maybe not for my daughter who is 33 and apparently can now wait another 17 years for a mammogram. Would love to hear what other DCIS women are feeling over all of this as I feel we have a most prominent role in this debate.

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  • Janets1
    Janets1 Member Posts: 57
    edited November 2009

    Feeling much better after reading thread "How DCIS Becomes Invasive" and thus have removed my post......! Will post again if I start to feel tentative again about my treatment option - I keep wavering!

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