Its been one of those weeks

I feel I have been somewhat introverted this week and pulling back a bit. I'm not sure why. I am doing okay. I have a fair amount of back pain these days and have moved up my appointment so that I can get some relief sooner as opposed to later. I have plenty of other aches and pains to boot.

I have been tired all week. I have been sleeping fairly well. But have frequently felt the need to nap. 

I did  have my annual mammogram this week which was a tiny bit stressful. Next year I will remember: If I feel something its nothing, if they find something its a problem. I felt something which turned out to be plain old body fat (of which I have plenty). But it allowed me to stress out for an hour or so.

I did purchase a new handbag last weekend for which I have received numerous compliments this week. I really like it and wanted a new purse and was just starting to look and found a Gucci bag at a yard sale for $5. I am not kidding. The previous owner bought it at Macy's and used it maybe two or three times and decided she didn't like it. Well now its mine and everyone seems to like it. So I guess that is good news.

My husband and I had an important conversation on an upcoming hotel reservation - refund for overpayment or upgrade to a suite? We opted for the suite provided it comes with a balcony. More on that later.

Today we have to clean for the cleaning lady. An arduous task but one that results in an amazingly clean house. I will suck it up with my aches and pains and take a pill and just push on through it.

Avoidance mode

Yesterday at work was the monthly sales meeting day which means it was chaotic from time to time. I was feeling relatively antisocial for some reason. I couldn't decide why. Then I realized its because of my stupid medical appointments tomorrow which are putting me in avoidance mode.

Nothing like one bad mammogram to make you dread them for the rest of your life. But that is tomorrow. This is today. I will go to work today and then the gym and continue to avoid it all day and all of tomorrow as well.

Stressed? Not me. Ha!

A very 'helpful' study designed to confuse us all

I am sure that this morning's headlines (aside from Thanksgiving food, foot ball, parades, and giving thanks) will be full of the news that a new study has been released which says that 'Mammograms lead to unneeded treatment'. Gee thanks.

The study looked at test results from 1976 to 2008. The article makes two 'helpful' points:

• mammograms do not help find late stage breast cancers any sooner so the death rate from them has not gone down by much
• Between 70,000 and 80,000 women are treated annual for breast cancers that would never kill them

It also calls mammograms imperfect as they tend to over detect and find things that lead to anxiety and false positives. The current mentality is that if a cancer is found it is presumed to be deadly unless treated. So if cancer is found, we do not have a way of telling it from a deadly to a non-deadly so we treat all as if they were nasty. (Go find some patients with a tumor and ask them if we can wait to see if it kills you or goes away on its own? Not happening.)

In my mind, that is the real target. Finding ways to determine if a cancer is deadly or a cancerous tumor that is slow growing or will be reabsorbed by the body. That would be a whole new focus of research.

Spinning Statistics

Of all the nerve, two professors have dared to criticize the Komen Foundation for the Cure for spinning mammography statistics in a campaign last October. David takes on Goliath and Goliath (a/k/a Komen for the Cure) replies with screening saves lives. Well yes we can't dispute that but we can disupute this which is taken from their ad last fall:

"early detection saves lives. The five-year survival rate for breast cancer when caught early is 98%. When it's not? 23%."

So somewhere in breast cancer statistics I am sure there is a 23% survival rate but just because you don't have regular screening doesn't mean  your cancer won't be caught until its stage IV and you get that 23% survival rate. But let's not spin the numbers here. Are they trying to scare women  into having mammograms instead of educating them?

Part of marketing is taking the features and benefits and writing about them. The feature here is regular mammograms can catch cancers earlier. The benefit is better odds for survival.

I write marketing stuff for a living. My copy writing skills might be slightly impinged by the early hour but I think I can do better than them and not mislead anyone. Perhaps they should have said something like:

Early stage breast cancer has a five year survival rate of 98% and late stage breast cancer can have a five year survival rate of 23%. Regular mammograms will help any cancer to be caught early.

Hmmm... Kudos to the professors. A big thumbs down to Komen.

Mammograms and statistics

The AMA has said (finally) that yearly mammograms should start at age 40. Back in 2009, some group of rocket scientists recommended they start at age 50 for women with normal risk factors. That started a big 'To-Do' and everyone (and their brother) had an opinion. They have joined the ranks of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; the American College of Radiology; the American Cancer Society; the National Cancer Institute; and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network who also say 40, unlike the rocket scientists.

So maybe the AMA is a bit slow here but its nice to see them on the bandwagon with everyone else promoting something that's common sense.

Especially since it has been learned that women who work night shifts are between 30 and 40% more likely to get breast cancer. This last set of statistics proves two things:

1. Lots of things cause breast cancer so we all have a higher risk and therefore all women really need the mammograms.
2. It is possible to reach analysis paralysis with breast cancer statistics, just like any other kind of statistics.

That's enough for today. I'm going to the beach.