Alternatives to mammography

Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos

Every year, when I would have my annual gynecological exam, my doctor would give me his standard speech about the importance of yearly mammograms. "I'm not going to get breast cancer." I told him repeatedly. He would then look at me in exasperation, and walk out of the room in a huff. Although I have occasionally submitted to the unpleasant experience of a mammogram, I confess that I generally ignored my doctor’s advice. Now that there are new mammogram guidelines recommendations from the Government Task Force, I feel vindicated.

Clearly, I am not suggesting that other women be as brash as I have been. Relying on your gut instincts and belief system may not be enough. Cancer does happen. Each individual must come to know their own body, abiding by what feels right to them. Medical guidelines can help us to determine what is appropriate. Author- Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos, who has written a book called Surviving Cancerland: The Psychic Aspects of Healing, has 10 years of surviving cancer experience under her belt. O’Keefe-Kanavos feels that women are justified in their angst concerning these new mammogram guidelines. She says, "If mammograms are discontinued before the age of 50, how will early screening for breast cancer continue? What about arguments concerning false negatives, and advice that women shouldn’t use breast self examinations?"

O’Keefe-Kanavos, who is a phone counselor for the R.A. BLOCH Cancer Foundation, a mentor for WE CAN, a contributor to Cape Women Online Magazine, C4Women, Colette Baron-Reid’s Intuition Now, says there are solutions. According to researchers at the University of Washington and Harvard Medical School, during a 10 year period, 1 out of 3 women had mammograms and breast exams that yielded images of breast cancer when none was actually present—false positives. Conversely, false negatives are common (up to 15%) with mammograms, especially in younger women who have dense breast tissue. O’Keefe-Kanavos feels that “the fear of a false negative is nothing compared to the panic attack associated with a missed positive.” She believes that “Women’s first line of detection should be self examinations. And, rather than systematically relying on mammograms, women should be looking at more reliable options.”

Some of O’Keefe-Kanavos’s suggestions are:

Power Color Doppler Ultrasound technology. It has been used as an alternative to Prostate Biopsy for years and can be used as a mammogram alternative to monitor breast health, obtain accurate breast cancer images, and provide early images of most malignant breast cancers, resulting in life-saving early detection, diagnosis, and intervention.

Sonography, which, according to the American Journal of Radiology, detects four times as many cancers as physical examinations and twice as many cancers as mammography. Other advantages are that they can be repeated to closely monitor areas of concern during treatment. Additional benefits of Breast Sonograms are:
• completely painless, safe, and non-invasive
• no harmful radiation used during the procedure
• inexpensive when compared with the costs of a mammogram or biopsy
• requires no post-procedure medical care or recovery time.

O’Keefe-Kanavos, who is currently working on her second book, Surviving Recurrence in Cancerland helps other women by spreading the word through her books, blog, and volunteer work for many cancer organizations and online cancer groups. She says, “I’m not beholden to medical or insurance associations. I don’t have a Ph.D. after my name, but I do have 10 years of breast cancer experience behind it.”