Mammogram-Self Exam Gate

A new finding regarding mammograms and self exams in the battle against breat cancer has come out and many women are not happy about it.

My biggest disagreement I have with the findings is the recommendation that the self exams are useless, even if I grant that mammograms are not safe due to radiation and are expensive (though I think that Viagra sales out distance this). I echo the cry of those who offer proof of the effectiveness of self exams those who are currently alive because they caught breast cancer early because they did a self exam. This list includes the famous: Peggy Fleming, Shirley Temple, etc.

I am also annoyed at the fact that women's health care is usually reduced to birth control (it's only been recently that insurance will cover it), plastic surgery (hard to prove 'medically necessary' vs. 'cosmetic' especially when it comes to breast reduction) and maternity (drop and street them) - not that those aren't important as well. We are still a society that believes that women's health issues are usually "all in their head" and then wonder why they are reluctant to seek help. Never mind the fact that the above mentioned areas of women's health are usually subject to more inapproriate moral judgment than anything that men would suffer from, save HIV/AIDS.

I am increasingly annoyed at this idea that people who show up at the ER are a drain on our system, but on the other hand, they are discouraged from doing anything that is preventative or seeking preventative care because of financial cost and again if they are women, 'it's all in their head."

Here is the article.

Breast Cancer Screening Should Begin at Age 50, Panel Finds:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/health/july-dec09/breastcancer_11-16.html?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=fanpage&utm_campaign=pbs


Excerpt:

"A government medical task force recommended major changes in breast cancer screening guidelines Monday, suggesting that most women should not begin getting routine mammograms until age 50, and then only once every two years.

In 2002, the same panel -- the United States Preventive Services Task Force -- had, with different members, recommended that women receive mammograms every one to two years beginning at age 40.

The panel on Monday also recommended that most women stop getting regular mammograms after age 74, and that doctors should no longer teach women to do breast self-examinations.
Members of the panel, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said that screening for breast cancer too early and too often can lead to false alarms, unnecessary biopsies and unnecessary anxiety for women.

The study is the latest chapter in an ongoing controversy over early screening for breast cancer and other cancers, such as prostate cancer. Such screening saves lives, but in addition to sometimes showing false positives, can also reveal cancers that would have grown so slowly they might not ever need to have been treated. "

Blogs I follow

A blog that I have followed for a long time is 'How I am Becoming an Astronaut.' It is the blog of Damaris Sarria's work at NASA and her preparation to meet her ultimate goal of being an astronaut. The juxtaposition of both storylines are interesting. Damaris is an engaging writer, who supplements this with cool photos of rockets and shuttles.

Her blog is important to be sure because the reality is that we don't hear often enough about women engineers who blog even though they are out there.

Her latest post documents her attendace at the NASA 50th Anniversary celebration where she gets a photo with the always awesome Gene Cernan, last man to walk on the moon.

Sarah Palin, motherhood and Alaskan women

[Below is an exchange that I entered into regarding an article about Sarah Palin on Facebook.]

They Raise Children, Pray and Support Palin - NYTimes.com
Source: www.nytimes.com
Gov. Sarah Palin has a following of Alaska women as dedicated to her as others were to a very different politician, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
"These are women who dip in and out of the work force, believe in prayer and spend their days trying to keep the crayon off the walls. They feel they have been looked down on by Clinton feminists and ignored by the power structure in the Republican Party. The fact that Ms. Palin has five children, including Trig, a newborn with Down syndrome, only makes her that much more part of the sisterhood.“I’m not that into politics,” said Delores Field, an Alaska Inupiat from Eagle River, near Anchorage, who does not consider herself a Democrat or a Republican.

“I’m just going to vote for Trig Van Palin’s mom.”

Add a comment1 comment


Tara at 10:11am Sep 5
"I’m not that into politics; I’m just going to vote for Trig Van Palin’s mom."Oh god. What a great reason to cast your vote...

Kitlat at 1:33pm Sep 5

It actually is a valid reason. We vote for who we think can represent and do the most for us. Some people vote for the President that you feel you can have a beer with vs. the other guy who knew the job better than anyone, but had a hard time connecting with people and inspiring them until he did a little film called "An Inconvenient Truth."

Kitlat at 1:34pm Sep 5

Some people vote for the little Midwestern haberdasher who was never rich or privileged, who had experienced more failure than success, who was left in the dark by the predecessor who overshadowed him and didn't think much of him, but who was around to cleanup the end of a long war and who believed in something as unfashionable as giving everyone a "fair deal" and having the buck stop with him-qualities that those voters felt represented their idea of what America is supposed to be. People follow, endorse and vote for people that they feel connect wth them, whether it is a connection based on being one of them, understanding their needs or because they represent an ideal they connect with.

Kitlat at 1:35pm Sep 5

Policy is important. Issues are important, but they mean little if the people that they affect feel that you will not represent their interests because you cannot connect with them, cannot understand them-again, as a certain VP learned during his campaign for president and during his subsequent campaign against global warming.

Kitlat at 1:35pm Sep 5

I respect a lot about Sarah Palin's background-I don't agree with many of her positions and many of the decisions she made on behalf of Alaska and I will not vote for the ticket in November, but I connect with many things in her experience-including mothers who dip in and out of the work force and try to keep crayons off the walls and food on the table and who find enjoyment in soaps and may occasionally play the lottery and who have to balance childcare and work-especially without the help of a partner. I also feel there is some truth to the idea that some of the women who fit the profile of a Clinton feminist do look down upon such women and belittle them and well, women's groups and other groups have paid for it at the ballot box ever since

The World of 'The Outsiders'

Well I found out that the author of 'The Outsiders' has a website : http://www.sehinton.com.
It's simple and clean, but leaves an impression just like her novels. I think I will revisit it frequently as I work on my own website.

Lea Hernandez

Lea Hernandez is a comic artist that more people should know about. I learned about her during the 'New Blood' series that Elfquest published in the 90s. She did a beautiful two-part story that focused on the character of Moonshade that took place in the early days of the Wolfriders' sojourn at Sorrow's End.

She's done quite a bit since including I found out recently at least an issue of Marvel's 'The Punisher.'

She can be found here:

http://divalea.livejournal.com/

Unfortunately, she suffered a fire and is in need of money. More details can be found out at her livejournal. I know it will all work out.

Poor Pat Lawford

Yesterday Patricia Kennedy Lawford died at the age of 82. Like many women of a certain age, sadly it seems that she was defined by the men that she was related to by blood and by marriage rather than her own accomplishments, which warranted the briefest of mentions in the coverage of her death.

Here is her entry in Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Kennedy_Lawford