Mi~Story by Clare Cowhig

My name is Clare Cowhig and here is Mi~Story:

Clare’s story shows how crucial it is for women to know about breast tissue type and cancer risk.

Aware of her strong family history of breast cancer, Clare did what she thought was the right thing—she started having mammograms at age 41.

She was always given the all-clear, except at age 49 when one area was examined by ultrasound after her routine mammogram. Again, it appeared that nothing sinister could be seen on the scans.

What Clare did not know was that she had dense breasts.

Clare says, “On showering one day, I noticed an unusual area of thickening on my right breast. I decided to book a whole breast private ultrasound to put my mind at rest."

Imagine her surprise when, at age 50 and only nine months after her last examination, the sonographer she saw privately announced, “You have the densest breast tissue I have ever seen!”

"If I'd been told I had dense breasts, I would have sought additional screening"

The sonographer identified a highly suspicious area on the right breast and another, which also required further investigation, on the left. Additional scans, breast MRI and multiple biopsies at the hospital confirmed that Clare had invasive ductal, bilateral breast cancer.

Clare explains: "I had a tumour in each breast. The one on the right was stage-three and over five centimetres: the one on the left was stage two and two centimetres. I had areas of in situ disease in both.”

"I now know these tumours never appeared on my mammograms because of my highly dense breast tissue."

Clare needed multiple surgeries, including a double mastectomy and chemotherapy, to remove the cancers in her breasts.

She says, “If I'd been told I had dense breasts, I would have sought additional screening. I would have been even more vigilant. My tumours could have been found at a smaller and less advanced stage, and I wouldn't have had to endure such extensive treatment."

#finditearly #breastcancer #densebreasts