Can you believe this?

cs34
cs34 Member Posts: 253
edited June 2014 in Advocacy

I am so over the top @*#&amp;@_($&amp;%#&_*(%#_&* <insert many bad words. Yell

My friend asked her gyno for a script for a mammo and they said NO. Are you kidding me?  They said not until she is 40. She is 37 now. 

Can they even do that? My GP had my baseline done at 35. I was diagnosed at 38. Granted, it was a bloody bra that saved my life but everyone's story is different. 

I told her to change doctors and maybe ask her GP for a script but can these doctors do this? 

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  • leaf
    leaf Member Posts: 8,188
    edited October 2011

    Yes, I'm sure they can.  (Not that I agree....  )Maybe they believe this study from today...

    http://www.annals.org/content/155/8/481.abstract I

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  • 3monstmama
    3monstmama Member Posts: 1,447
    edited October 2011

    I believe it.  And I'm sorry.

    I think we all saw this coming down the road when the study saying mammograms were unnecessary and self exams ineffective for women under 50 first came out. . . which was the same day I was diagnoised and no, I wasn't fifty....

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  • edwh001
    edwh001 Member Posts: 73
    edited October 2011
    I have had breast cancer and my ins refuses to pay for yearly mamo's now, I had to pay for mine this year. It makes me so mad I have to save money and do without to pay for one, it's just a bunch of BS. I think they want us to give up and die so they(ins co) will save money.Yell
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  • Kimmer1975
    Kimmer1975 Member Posts: 423
    edited October 2011

    I know for certain it's like that here in Canada if your under 40. You cannot get a Mammo without a doctors referral and if they say No, you can't! Some doctors won't agree to it unless there's a concern. I think it's a horrible rule and certainly reminds us that we don't always have control over our own health. Very sad.

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  • Panmars
    Panmars Member Posts: 299
    edited October 2011
    Leaf, I read about that study today in the paper. Mammograms every other year?? WTH? My cancer was caught early by a routine mammo last fall. I wonder where I'd be this fall if I had skipped a year. Scary.
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  • leaf
    leaf Member Posts: 8,188
    edited October 2011

    In England, at least for the average woman, they don't do mammograms every year either.  They do them every *3* years, from age 47-70.http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/types/breast/screening/future/

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  • cs34
    cs34 Member Posts: 253
    edited October 2011

    I had a mammo in February and showed nothing. By January, I was diagnosed because I had blood. Anyway, I just strongly feel (and I said this on another thread regarding this topic) that if it were the loved ones of the people making these decisions, and they lost one of them because they weren't 40 yet, would they change their minds to this over 40 thing? 

    Leaf, do you live in England? My sister took me there last March and I loved it!!!!! I'm actually wearing a top that I bought there and I get so giddy when someone compliments it...so I can say, "Thanks. I got it in London!" LOL Smile  We went to Paris for a day and found that Europe is geared for "skinny" people...not someone (like me) who's 60 lbs overweight. Trying to get through those tables at the Paris cafe's... I could have sat on two of the chairs to fit my butt!!! LOL

    Sorry I went off a little on a tangent there.   

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  • leaf
    leaf Member Posts: 8,188
    edited October 2011

    That's perfectly OK, cs. 

    No, I don't live in England.  I have a friend there who I wrote about my LCIS, when I was contemplating PMXs.  She said if I was in England, they'd only do one if I had BRCA mutation, or maybe a very strong family history.  

    I visited England more than 10 years ago - I just loved it.  To see how tiny the rooms and windows were in the Tower of London - what it might be like to be imprisoned there. The museums!!!!  The castles.  The historical houses.  The history.  The cathedrals.

    I sure agree with the tables at cafes.  In England, to save money, I sometimes went to a ?Boots pharmacy where they had all sorts of ready-made delicious sandwiches or salads, very fresh. I didn't sit at any cafes.

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  • DiDel
    DiDel Member Posts: 1,329
    edited October 2011

    Thats crazy! I've been getting mammos since I was 35 because BC runs in my family. Of course mine was not caught on a mammo but the digital mammos are so much better than the old kind. She should just tell her GP she felt something...how can they deny her the ability to get a test. Sure insurance may not cover it but coming from someone who has a very high deductible...it really wasnt that expensive. If she is worried it is worth the couple hundred bucks it will cost.

    Shameful of a doctor to ignore their patient.

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  • glesin
    glesin Member Posts: 12
    edited November 2011

    At age 35 I also requested a mammogram, and my Dr. told me the insurance would not cover it until I was 40. Two and a half years later, I have had a partial mastectomy and am currently waiting for my final pathology report.

     Late September of this year, after numerous test and other Dr. referrals, still no answer to my strange unusual pain, I decided to start over from scratch and go back to my family DR. explain my symptoms to her from the start, that is when she ordered my mammo and with in an hour of leaving the hospital she had me set up with a surgical oncologist for the biopsy.

    I do love my family Dr. for being so vigulent and listening, taking the time to explain everything to her helped. 

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  • DarbyandJoan
    DarbyandJoan Member Posts: 1
    edited December 2011

    Unbelieveable. I am 27 and I have had mulitple. It's my choice and my right. Both of my Grandmothers had Breast Cancer, I need to be vigilant. I actually have a large lump in my breast, it's a benign cyst, but I was able to go because I have an amazing Doctor. She encourages me to go whenever I see a change, for whatever reason; even though we know it's benign.

    Thank you lord, for pro-active, female, vigiliant, slightly paranoid Doctors. 

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  • Wabbit
    Wabbit Member Posts: 1,592
    edited December 2011

    I suspect the refusal of the RX for the mammogram was because your insurance would not pay for it.  The doctors always check that out in advance of writing any orders for tests.  So it's really not about the doctor ... but the insurance company. 

    And then to make it even worse ... if the mammogram facility/hospital has a contract with your insurance company they are not allowed to bill you for anything the insurance won't pay.  So even if you are willing to pay out of pocket they can't legally bill you for it.  Girlfriend ran into this with a bone density test she wanted.  Crazy system we have.

    The only 'work around' seems to be to have some kind of 'complaint' or high risk so they can justify the early mammogram to the insurance company.  

    edwh001 ... I have the same problem as you with my mammograms now.  It's because once we have had breast cancer they give us 'diagnostic' mammograms.  'Routine screening' mammograms are free but 'diagnostic' ones are classed as a 'procedure'.  If you haven't already met your deductible you end up paying for it. 

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  • Medigal
    Medigal Member Posts: 1,412
    edited December 2011

    Yes I can but it's still up to her doctor.  I had mammos in my early 30's because I had Fibro dense breasts.  Many times even a doctor can't tell what type of a lump he is feeling with dense breasts so all he has to do is give the insurance company a reasonable need for the mammogram.  I never had my insurance question any of them. 

    IMO, I think she needs to discuss her fears with her gyn and see if he/she will cooperate with her and come up with a logical reason for the test.  BTW, why is she so concerned about having one so young?  Does she feel any lumps on her self-tests or have a history of it in her family?  A family history might be a way for her gyn to get her test paid for especially if he is unsure about something he is feeling.  She might call the American Cancer Assn in her area and ask about any place she can get a mammo for free if she really is that concerned about it.

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  • Momine
    Momine Member Posts: 7,859
    edited December 2011

    Yes, since it is against "best practice." In Europe, the recommendation is to wait with mammos until age 50. Instead she should ask for an ultrasound.

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  • angelsister
    angelsister Member Posts: 474
    edited December 2011

    I went to my gp in england at 38 after my sis was dx with bc in the states. This wasnt a good enough reason to grt screened. So i developed some intermittent nipple discharge. Got the mammo, also an us and biopsy and lumpectomy which thankfully turned out to be b9. i get yearly mammos now as our family history is 2 1/2 out of 4 sisters. ( im classed as the 1/2). Anyway if there's a reason someone should have a mammo, id do whatever it took. Best of luck x

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  • Sommer43
    Sommer43 Member Posts: 600
    edited February 2012

    In the UK, women qualify for breast screening at the age of 50, unless there is a strong family history, then they will screen earlier.  This is only a mammogram, further tests if mammo shows something, what that doesn't eliminate, is women with dense breasts over the age of 50. 

     If a referral to a breast clinic is made, via the GP,. this is on the NHS, I hasten to add,  then the three way testing is offered, a consultation, a MMG, an US, and biopsy dependent on findings from the first two. 

    The hardship in the UK, is being referred by a GP. which appears to be quite hard.  A very convaluted area as far as the medical profession is concerned, as it is down to women to be breast aware, and to report any changes in breasts to their GP.  I was lucky, my GP picked up on a lump and this is national, there is a two week pathway to breast clinic, via a GP 's findings.  All referrals have to be seen within two weeks. 

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