Mary - Interview 45

Age at interview: 72

Brief Outline:

Mary always attends for screening and, on one occasion, was recalled. A second mammogram and an ultrasound scan showed there were no problems.

Background:

Mary is a retired clerical assistant. She is married with no children. Ethnic background/nationality: White British (Irish).

More about me...

Mary has always attended for breast screening and knows when her appointment is due every three years. Her most recent invitation letter didn't arrive in the month she was expecting it and, when she phoned the unit to find out why, she was told that there had been a short delay. 

Mary's mammograms have always been normal but, after her last one in 2007, she was recalled for further tests. She was anxious and shocked because she'd had no symptoms. She was also hopeful because she'd never had any breast problems in the past. She went to a clinic for further tests and was given a second mammogram and an ultrasound scan. At the clinic, she found waiting for the results very difficult. After doing the tests, the nurse and a doctor told her that her mammogram was normal and there were no problems. The nurse also told Mary that some cancers are symptom-less. They cannot be felt but can only be detected by mammogram or other tests. 

Mary is 72 and chooses to have mammograms after the age of seventy. In three years time, she will phone the breast screening unit again for another appointment. Mary says that, because has been recalled, she feels even more strongly that it is important to attend for breast screening. 

Mary said that mammograms can be painful but the pain is short-lived and she would rather know if there is anything wrong than not attend. She felt happy with the breast screening service and was very pleased that she was recalled quickly when there was a suspected problem and told everything was normal within a week.

Mary attends for breast screening at age 72 and will continue to do so because the risk of breast...

You mentioned you've been going for breast screening every time for quite a few years now?

Yes, yes.

And how long does that carry on for, do you know, up until when?

You can, see I'm over sixty-five so therefore they don't send out automatic appointments to you but they state that you can, if you ring in, they will fit you in regardless of your, when, I think the other one's up to sixty-five they come through automatically like with say maybe from the doctor's surgery or they have you on file. But over sixty-five, you have to like keep an eye yourself on the years and phone in. And there's no problem, they just make an appointment for you, so that way there's no excuse.

So you would carry on?

Yes, definitely now, definitely like after this [recall], even though it was clear it just makes you more aware, like of the importance of having it done.

So if you don't receive a letter in three years you'll phone and make an appointment? Are you, do you have it in the back of the mind it's every October, every three years, that kind of thing?

Well it was, it was March normally, as I say, every March and I always had it at the back of my mind, well it must be coming near it and I just kept it, like at the top of my filing, where I keep all my other [laughs] documents. And I just keep it on the very top, the letter, like where they say it, everything is okay. Well I just check the date and to make sure that, it's something that sticks in your mind, like a birthday or something you just, it was always March, now it'll be October.

And would you want to carry on going for screening after the age of seventy as well?

Well the nurse, except, when she was giving me the card with their number on it, I could ring up and make an appointment in three years time, she said, “The older you go, the more likely you are to have breast cancer.” It may slow down but it could be, you could still have it or get it. So I think they're encouraging people to, it's only a phone call and especially when they're bringing their mobile up here to [hospital name], as you know I'm quite near [hospital name]. I mean can go in on the bus or whatever, or driving whatever, but it's not far, and it's only, you know, half an hour or so, an hour out of your day. So I say it's, well it's there but I think you've just go to help yourself too.

Mary was shocked when she was recalled. A second mammogram and an ultrasound scan showed there...

Can you tell me a bit more about what happened this time that you went? Because this time you were actually recalled weren't you?

Yes I was recalled. I had my x-ray done on the fifteenth of October, that was on a Monday and the following Friday I'd a letter from [hospital name] asking me to come back, that they'd made an appointment for me for the following Wednesday and that they couldn't give me a clear, a clearance because it wasn't clear enough for them to do it. And, you know, to come back and if I wished I could take a friend or member of the family and they explained that I would be seen by a nurse and then the doctor. And, if necessary, I would have to have a biopsy and then I wouldn't get the results until, for another week. So I didn't have to have the biopsy because when they did the second, the x-rays at [hospital name], they were clear.

Yes. And were you told that there and then?

Well when the doctor called me in then and as the radiologist came in as well and as I was walking in she said, “They're okay.” So then the doctor examined me and she did an ultrasound and then said, “That's okay.” So the radiologist of course naturally knew what, they know exactly how people are because they're with you while, as you know, doing the x-rays and they know how concerned you are. So she just said, “It's okay.” And that's all she said, like she left the rest naturally to the doctor.

Yeah. So when you received the letter it must have come as quite a shock?

Yes but, it did, it was a big shock, but then again when you're waiting for something you always think 'oh well maybe', especially with that type of check-up.

Yeah. Did it say anything about how many women are recalled every year or?

No they just said a number of, I think that yeah, I think they said, I'm not clear on that now. I can't remember but they did say there was a number of women that there was recalled and everything was, it was just an innocent thing and everything, they got clearance there and then. But this was not a lump as the nurse explained to me, so I wouldn't know anything about it. It was, you know, just white lines and therefore if it was cancer it was just in there, I suppose that in time the breast would show signs of things not being right, which she said I wouldn't find it if I was even checking. I wouldn't know.

Yes. Did she talk to you before you went for the x-ray or afterwards?

No, she was, I was, when I went up, no she, I went into the waiting room as you know and then after a little while the nurse came down and introduced herself and she brought me upstairs and she took me into the cubicle where I had to change and she showed me the x-rays there. She told me, like explained to me why I was brought back.

And what did the doctor talk to you about?

She didn't say very much at all, only asked me, like if I had any, did I notice anything about my breasts and just a general chat really, conversation. And then when she did the ultrasound and she told me it was okay, that I was clear, I had to get dressed. Then I wait to see the nurse again and she talked to me and gave me a leaflet on breast care.

And did she say, “We'll see you again in three years time.”?

Yes. She gave me a card with her phone number on to ring in, like in three years time and of course as she

At the breast clinic, waiting for test results was difficult but Mary was pleased she'd been...

So when you received the letter it gave you a date for the appointment?

They'd made an appointment for me, yes.

And how did you feel leading up to that time? Was it something you thought about or it was just something that was at the back of your mind?

What after I got the letter?

After you got the letter.

When I got the letter the first day it was a big, big shock and then there was some days that I thought 'oh I don't think there's anything', you know, I felt, I didn't feel any pain or anything. I know you're not always going to have pain and you then have a problem. But I suppose it was, the worst day was the Wednesday and when I got there, when I got there waiting and had the x-ray done and waiting for the results. That was the, that was worst, like it's just the unknown, not knowing one way or the other. I mean if I'd had a problem I would just have to naturally face it.

And did you take somebody with you?

My husband came up with me, yeah.

Is there anything that could be done to improve the service at all do you think, or you're quite happy with?

Well I'm happy with what I've, the way I've been dealt with, very happy about it, 'cause I felt like they didn't waste any time in calling me back, they made the appointment and for me as well to ring and confirm that I would be there. And I felt, well I have to meet them halfway as well.

So it was all done very quickly?

It was all done very quickly you see 'cause, as I've said before, at the stage that I, if I couldn't keep that appointment it might be four weeks before they could see me. And another thing I liked about it, in the leaflet they said that if it was positive then I would have to go on and see a consultant at the hospital and I could have that at the hospital of my choice, which I was happy about because, like if I came, if it came to that, [hospital name] was my nearest hospital here and I thought that was another good idea. So it gives people a chance to pick their nearest hospital as the one should I go to. So I liked that as well.

Mary will be breast aware between her three-yearly mammograms and, if she has any symptoms, will...

Some women who have been recalled have said that they worried so much about it that in some ways it put them off going for screening completely, but that hasn't, it hasn't, that's not your view?

No, well I did worry about it naturally, but it wouldn't put me off because I would want to know. You see here I would really want to know if it was, if I didn't follow, go for it and I had any pains or aches I'd think 'oh my goodness, something is wrong there' and I still wouldn't feel 'oh I didn't want to go for the screening'. But I, like I still wanted to know but I still would have the courage to go and find out one way or the other.

So it was all dealt with quickly?

Yes

So now you won't be thinking about it until the next three years?

Yes or I'll just keep an eye and if I see anything, as I said, just go back and check with my doctor and see what he says. And I suppose if I did notice anything, if I had, if I did phone the office they would fit me in again maybe, but if not I could, I could go to my own doctor as well, have a chat with him.

Yes. So between the three years, you'll just keep an eye and...

Just keep an eye, as I say. I will still keep in the back of my head what the nurse said that, if it was just like what they were looking at, I wouldn't know from a lump, but if I had continual pain or maybe soreness or a rash or anything, or maybe swelling, I would definitely, as I say, go to my own doctor and explain to him what, because the nurse is writing to my own doctor to tell them that I was called back and they will give him the results so he would have that on file.