Screening Key To Early Breast Cancer Detection

Jackie Froyland clearly remembers the hardest part of being diagnosed with breast cancer at age 44.
She dreaded telling her four children, aged 15, 13, 7 and 5 and her partner, but telling her mum was absolutely “heartbreaking”.
“I went for a mammogram for no other reason than my mum’s neighbour had breast cancer picked up from a routine screening. So I decided I had better go for one at BreastScreen as well,” she said.
“I booked in and had it done and a week or so later they phoned and said they wanted me to come back in so they could look further at something.
“They told me ‘It might be nothing, we might do a biopsy, people have these all the time’.”
Jackie had the follow-up ultrasound and a biopsy done on Wednesday 17 March and returned to the BreastScreen clinic for her results two days later on her way to work.
“The doctor told me that I wasn’t going to go to work that day,” she said.
“They told me there was a cancer. ‘You will need surgery, you will need to make some phone calls, make appointments, get a referral, pick a surgeon’; it was really very overwhelming.
“You just automatically think the worst and afterwards I sat in the carpark and cried.
“Ringing my partner and loved ones who were waiting for me to advise I’d been given the ‘all-clear’ and repeating those words, that was the worst.”
Fortunately, Jackie’s 1.2cm Ductal Carcinoma in Situ (DCIS), a type of cancer found in the milk ducts, was found early.
“They said it was actually good because the mammogram did exactly what it was supposed to do – it detected my breast cancer early,” she said.
“I probably wouldn’t have even gone for that screening that day if I hadn’t heard from my mum about her neighbour’s cancer diagnosis.”
Jackie had two surgeries to remove the cancer and a lymph node followed by 15 radiation sessions.
“I had radiation every day after work for three weeks in June and started on the hormone medication Tamoxifen in July,” she said.
“I was given the all-clear in February 2022 although I still have yearly blood tests and see my surgeon and oncologist twice a year, as well as now having to take the hormone blocker tablets for five years.”
Jackie, who is now an administration officer in the Emergency Department at Mackay Base Hospital, recognises that her BreastScreen visit that day helped detect changes that were too small to be felt during a physical examination.
“As important as self-examination is I would never have picked this up myself without that mammogram. I was lucky,” Jackie said.
“So I really feel like I owe it to others to tell my story. I hope it’s the encouragement they need to go and get a breast check.
“If you are aged 40, please book in for a routine mammogram – those 10 minutes of discomfort just might save your life.”
‍

FACTS:
• October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
• Breast cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia and the most common cancer among females.
• Everyday 58 people in Australia will be diagnosed with breast cancer. That equates to over 21,000 people in Australia being diagnosed with breast cancer each year.
• Book an appointment at the mobile screening by phoning 13 20 50 or visit https://www.breastscreen.qld.gov.au/make-an-appointment

‍

Jackie Froyland was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 44. Photo credit: Mackay Hospital and Health Service

‍