Elizabeth Edwards' Recurrence and the Importance of Breast Cancer Screening

As all of us who've had breast cancer will agree, Elizabeth Edwards' news hits us hard.  I think it's important to say, once again, that a clear mammogram cannot be relied upon for women with dense breasts.  Eighteen months ago I found a 5 cm. lump in my breast.  I literally found it - there I was sitting at my dinner table, gesticulating, when my right hand went to my chest for emphasis and my fingertips felt the lump.  Understand this - at no point did my lump EVER appear on a mammogram.  And this was a big, honking one.  Even when a metal thread was run through prior to a lumpectomy, the mammogram showed the metal thread but never the lump.  Only ultrasound revealed the size and shape of it.  My diagnosis of Stage III breast cancer followed, and I am now in remission after a grueling year of treatment.

If I had relied on mammograms to determine if I had breast cancer, God only knows what would have happened.