Author: Aletha Cress Oglesby, M.D.

As a family physician, I explore the HEART of HEALTH in my work, recreation, community, and through writing. My blog, Watercress Words, informs and inspires us to live in health. I believe we can turn our health challenges into healthy opportunities. When we do, we can share the HEART of health with our families, communities, and the world. Come explore and share with me.

How to face your health challenges with hope

Learn how to understand your doctor and make yourself understood #physician#patients

Featuring Weekend Words from

James chapter 5, verses 2-5, Common English Bible

My brothers and sisters, think of the various tests you encounter as occasions for joy. After all, you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

Let this endurance complete its work so that you may be fully mature, complete, and lacking in nothing.

But anyone who needs wisdom should ask God, whose very nature is to give to everyone without a second thought, without keeping score.

Wisdom will certainly be given to those who ask.

Be passionately in love with understanding. St. Augustine
St. Augustine, early North African Christian theologian and philosopher graphic from Lightstock.com, affiliate link

 

 

 

 

 

Proverbs chapter 2, verses 2-10, Common English Bible 

Turn your ear toward wisdom,
    and stretch your mind toward understanding.
Call out for insight,
    and cry aloud for understanding.
 Seek it like silver;
    search for it like hidden treasure.
Then you will understand the fear of the Lord,
    and discover the knowledge of God.
The Lord gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

 Wisdom will enter your mind,
    and knowledge will fill you with delight.

 

Thanks to Sarah Forgrave for permission to use this excerpt from

Prayers for Hope and Healing

Seeking God’s Strength as You Face Health Challenges

by Sarah Forgrave

Prayers for Hope and Healing by Sarah Forgrave
Prayers for Hope and Healing by Sarah Forgrave

 

“When you’re confused by medical jargon”

“Medical staff talk to you, but they might as well be speaking a foreign language. Whether they’re explaining your condition or giving instructions for the next steps of your care, their words go into your ears like a secret message you can’t decode. You know they’re talking about your body, but the disconnect to your brain leaves you helpless and frustrated.

a prayer-

I’m so thankful for the doctors and medical staff  You’ve charged with my care. Even though I don’t always understand their words, it’s comforting to know You’ve given them the knowledge they need to treat my condition. ”

 

 

Learn how to understand your doctor and make yourself understood with these previous posts-

Do you know the best questions to ask about your healthcare?

“You may think your doctor knows exactly what you mean, but sometimes we are left trying to read between the lines of what you tell us.  We doctors need to understand our patients’ expectations, concerns and obstacles.”

How to talk to your doctor to improve your medical care

“You may think doctors make a diagnosis based on lab tests or xrays. But much of the time, those tests only confirm what we already suspect  based on your symptoms.

If we misunderstand what you describe, or fail to get complete information we may  start testing for something far removed from what is wrong with you.”

And have a cup of tea with me.


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Weekend Words-

sharing words of faith, hope, and love

(1Corinthians 13:13)

Mammograms-who, when, and why

breast cancer screening reminder-who needs it and when #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth

During Breast Cancer Awareness Month I want to remind you of physician recommendations for screening. Currently, the only test recommended for screening is mammography.

a woman having a mammogram done by a technician
image used courtesy of the Public Health Image Library, CDC

No other test has evidence that its use will decrease breast cancer deaths, although they may be useful for diagnosis in women who have breast symptoms.

These guidelines for screening  apply only to women at average risk of breast cancer, which is most women. They do not apply to women who have ever been diagnosed and/or treated for breast cancer, or to women who currently have symptoms related to their breasts, such as a lump, pain, discharge, or skin changes.

Guidelines for screening come chiefly from two organizations- The American Cancer Society (ACS) and the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). Other organizations such as the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) , of which I am a member, usually follow their recommendations .

 guidelines from the ACS

  • Offer annual screening to women age 40 to 44 years.
  • Perform a mammogram annually in women 45 to 54 years.
  • Perform a mammogram annually or every other year starting at age 55 years.
  • Continue screen mammography as long as a woman’s overall health is good, with a life expectancy of 10 years or longer.
  • Routine breast exams by either the patient  or a physician are not recommended.

 guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)  

  • For ages 40-49 years, individualize the decision to screen every 2 years
  • For ages 50-74 years, screen every 2 years
  • For ages 75 years and older there is no recommendation.

Both organizations recommend that physicians discuss the decision to screen or not to screen with patients and base the decision after considering possible harms versus potential benefit.These are guidelines for physicians to apply to each individual patient, not hard and fast rules.

a mammogram image
a mammogram revealing a breast cancer image source- National Library of Medicine, Open-i

Screening guidelines  are not used for high risk women- women with 

  • a history of previous breast cancer or ovarian cancer
  • a suspected or confirmed genetic mutation , BRCA, known to increase breast cancer risk
  • a history of radiation to the chest
  • a close family history of breast history, usually meaning parent, sibling, child, grandparent, aunt/uncle, or first cousin.
Breast cancer in young women can be hereditary.
graphic courtesy of the CDC, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Screening guidelines also do not apply to women with breast symptoms suggestive of cancer.

  • a lump in the breast or axilla (armpit)
  • pain, especially in only one breast
  • nipple discharge
  • persistent rash or skin changes over the breast

These women need appropriate diagnostic testing which might include

  • mammography,
  • ultrasound,
  • MRI, 
  • biopsy. 

Here are sources for more information

Breast Cancer

“Both women and men can get breast cancer, though it is much more common in women. Other than skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States.”

Mammography 

“You should talk to your doctor about the benefits and drawbacks of mammograms. Together, you can decide when to start and how often to have a mammogram.”

Screening Guidelines

“Mammograms are not perfect tests. They can miss some cancers, and they can find lesions that may look like cancers but are not actually cancers (false-positive results), resulting in additional testing and procedures. They can also find very low-risk cancers that would never have caused any health problems if they were never found or treated (overdiagnosis).”

Breast cancer screening benefits and harms 

“Each woman also has different personal values, especially toward the idea of unnecessary medical tests and treatments.

Talk to your doctor if you are younger than 50 years and have questions about whether you should get a mammogram.”

 

 

 

Get involved by sharing  this information with friends and colleagues

and on social media.

 

 

And please consider the affiliates which help make this blog happen. Thank you.


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