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| - Here we are, up for the annual mammo! (Or, in my case, bi-annual.) And guess what Desert Radiology has in its waiting room?
Shiny, new brochures about 3D Mammography!
Hmmm. Never heard of it.
A sleek new brochure tells you it's really good at detecting cancers. So, you go in for your test and ask: is this a 3D Mammography?
Yes, you are told by a nice technician.
What is the difference in radiation with regular mammos, you ask.
Nothing, the tech says. Very little.
You don't know? you ask.
It's very difficult to measure, you're told.
You've gotten off work, driven across town, and you decide, ok, do it.
How much radiation is hitting my face? you ask the tech.
None, she says. It all goes here. She points to the breast she's flattening in a vice.
Then why are you behind a shield? You ask.
She has no answer.
You go outside after the test. You whip out the smart phone. A cursory search. And what do you find?
http://ww5.komen.org/BreastCancer/EmergingAreasinEarlyDetection.html
http://www.cancer.gov/types/breast/mammograms-fact-sheet#q13
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/breastcancer/moreinformation/breastcancerearlydetection/breast-cancer-early-detection-acs-recs-mammograms
Yes, there is some evidence that 3D Mammos might be better at distinguishing false positives from real positives, but: 1) IT'S NOT THE STANDARD OF CARE; and 2) IT'S TWICE THE RADIATION.
The source isn't some woman in her basement writing a blog. This is cancer.gov and Susan Komen.org and cancer.org: venerable institutions.
Conclusion:
1) Desert Radiology has found a new way to make money by buying new machines so they can charge more for tests not all of us need.
2) Desert Radiology is making women have tests by machines that have not been subject to randomized tests for efficacy. In other words, there's no convincing proof that 3D mammos are better, despite the propaganda that Desert Radiology promotes.
3) Desert Radiology is not conforming to the current standard of care as per cancer.gov and komen.org, among others.
4) Desert Radiology is delivering twice as much radiation as is necessary for most of us.
5) Desert Radiology doesn't train its techs well enough. They have no idea what kind of radiation they're delivering. They have no clue about technology. Maybe they can't use smart phones.
Buy hey--what do we know? We're just dumb women in the desert.
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