Stories
Dr. Nancy Cappello's Story
I did what the medical field and the countless number of cancer advocacy groups told me. I ate healthy, exercised daily, had yearly mammograms AND had no first-degree relative with breast cancer. Little did I know...
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In August of 2009 while on a vacation my husband commented that a particular lump is distorting the shape of my breast. I mention this a few weeks later when I went for my mammogram. The radiologist said not to worry as the mammogram was normal.
When I reported this to my husband, he was not satisfied and asked a friend of his who is a radiologist about my results. The Radiologist barely touches the ultrasound to my right breast and gasps.
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"How could this happen?" exclaimed Jodie when diagnosed with bilateral invasive breast cancer, invisible by several years of mammograms.
While Jodie was told she had dense breast tissue, her healthcare providers NEVER discussed its impact on her cancer risk and the limitations of her mammography in screening her dense breasts.
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Even with a family history of breast cancer and Rebecca's palpable lump, her doctor dismissed the lump and her concerns as her mammogram was NORMAL.
Within a year of her NORMAL mammogram, 3 invasive cancers were uncovered, hidden on mammogram, which metastasized to a lymph node.
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Gail never missed her mammography appointment. Her cancer was invisible by mammography for several years, and once detected was 4 cm and HER2+ advanced stage breast cancer.
Gail's health care provider knew that her dense tissue could mask cancer on mammogram, YET no adjunct screening was offered to her. Her 4CM finally diagnosed with ultrasound.
