Opinion vs. Fact

I spent part of the afternoon yesterday at the Ob-GYN office for my annual exam. Not my favorite thing to do but very necessary. Anyhow, I could not wait to engage my doctor in conversation related to the controversy about mammography and self breast exams. I have been going to this same physician for over 20 years and know that he is passionate about breast health. He did not disappoint. We talked at length about how "stupid" the idea of having mammograms every two years is and he had a laundry list of patients saved either through mammography and/or self breast exams.

Some interesting "insider" information. My doctor shared that a major part of the funding for the study was contributed by China. His thought, "they have a population issue so what do they care if people die of cancer!" Interesting. Second tidbit, he watched a panel discussion with the head of the study as one of the panelist. His overall opinion of this physician was, "it was like watching a talking tree stump." Guess she did not creat much confidence.

To make a long story short......do not sell yourself short. Have a screening mammography on an annual basis and please remember to do monthly self exams. Both of them save lives.

This concludes this Tuesday editorial....Have a nice day.