Ep. 369: The importance of early detection of breast cancer

Guest: Dr. Paula Gordon, University of BC

“I had suddenly gone from being the healthiest person I knew to having breast cancer,” said Christine Hazle during an interview for a Breast Cancer Awareness campaign produced for BC Cancer.

She continues to say, “I hadn’t been sick a day in my life, I’m the person who never gets a cold, never gets the flu and that was my perception of myself.” Despite her clean bill of health, she went for her mammogram. Her cancer was aggressive and so was her treatment. And then the onslaught of advice was endless – she was told to “eat only meat; no, eat only veggies; no, try this, try that.”

In an Atlantic Monthly article, Caitlin Flanagan says, “Laugh and the world laughs with you; get cancer and the world can’t shut its trap. Stop eating sugar; keep your weight with milkshakes. Listen to a recent story on NPR; do not read a recent story in Time magazine. Exercise – but not too vigorously; exercise – hard, like Lance Armstrong. Join a support group, make a collage, make a collage in a support group, collage the s**t out of your cancer. Be positive.”

On and on, goes the advice. But that’s after you are diagnosed. According to Dr Paula Gordon, one of Canada’s leading experts in breast cancer detection and diagnosis, “More importantly, do not put off getting a mammogram. In fact, insist on it and do not miss an appointment.” Both Christine and Caitlin went for their mammograms. Both were diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and both survived. The reason they survived was timing – they were diagnosed early enough to increase the chances they would live.

We invited Dr Paula Gordon to join us for a Conversation That Matters about everything to do with breast cancer, from prevention to detection.