I just say- so far, so good!

Which really makes me question why my doctor wants me to get a mammogram after I have had several CT scans since surgery 15 months ago. If mammograms were enough, they wouldn't have to send us through a maze of other imaging devices.

More recent research shows that the HER2+ has a higher recurrence rate than initially believed. So two years ago, the breast specialist added an ultrasound to the 3D mammo imaging. It takes a little longer to schedule the appt as they need a bigger block of time (as they do the mammo first, and then to another room for the ultrasound). It makes sense, if they see anything on the mammo, it is immediately followed up with the ultrasound.

Whatever your diagnosis, if you have dense breasts, the ultra sound should be part of your imaging standard, because trouble is harder to spot with the mammo- the fibrous tissue shows up white, as does any tumors.

January 2025 will mark 5 years since the end of active treatment, at which time the oncologist will release me. I would feel better about that if they did a whole body image, I hate the idea of waiting for symptoms and being behind the 8-ball at that point. But since I only had the one tumor, and clear lymph nodes, super clean margins (I did the mastectomy, with flat closure), getting the additional scans is not standard protocol,

Wishing you all the best-- Hugs!

The following is from the American Cancer Society- I will post the link in case anyone wants to read the entire article:
---
Are mammograms safe?
Mammograms expose the breasts to small amounts of radiation. But the benefits of mammography outweigh any possible harm from the radiation exposure. Modern machines use low radiation doses to get breast x-rays that are high in image quality. On average the total dose for a typical mammogram with 2 views of each breast is about 0.4 millisieverts, or mSv. (A mSv is a measure of radiation dose.) The radiation dose from 3D mammograms can range from slightly lower to slightly higher than that from standard 2D mammograms.

To put these doses into perspective, people in the US are normally exposed to an average of about 3 mSv of radiation each year just from their natural surroundings. (This is called background radiation.) The dose of radiation used for a screening mammogram of both breasts is about the same amount of radiation a woman would get from her natural surroundings over about 7 weeks.
---
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/breast-canc....

Breast Cancer Mammogram | How Does a Mammogram Work?

https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/breast-cancer/screening-tests-and-early-detection/mammograms/mammogram-basics.html

Mine was found by a mammogram as well so I'm not knocking it completely but I have done so much research these past few months that I know the compression alone if there is already something brewing may exacerbate it and make it spread . I've also heard mammograms have 500 times the radiation of a chest x-ray . For women with dense breasts especially, it's not the best option either.