Mammograms: A public information blog for women, by Durwin Banks a heart centred farmer.
We recently read with sadness about the death of Jackie Collins from breast cancer another bright star lost from the world. Her sister Joan is quoted as saying, “I kept on telling her to go for a mammogram”.
However, I have another story to tell, because my sister Lynn died as a result of having a mammogram, which hurt her so much she did not go back for more and by the time breast cancer was diagnosed it was too late and she suffered for two years until the final moment of death.
I think Jackie was right not to go for a mammogram and her sister Joan, just misinformed as there are better ways of screening available. Mammograms have recently been banned in Switzerland because their use is problematic and I believe they should be banned here and across the world. I advise anyone interested in understanding why I think this and wanting to learn more about it to view a DVD called The Promise (thepromisefilm.net) which spells out just exactly how damaging mammograms are. They say that as a result of having mammograms, 4000 women are treated for cancer every year, when they do not actually have cancer.
This is not to say women do not need screening but they need a non-invasive less harmful method to help protect them.
I am reliably informed by a leading cancer therapist that by far the majority of breast cancer patients are actually self-diagnosed anyway. Women discover something different when checking themselves in the shower or their husbands notices changes or even their dog are all cited as ways that aware and informed women started to think that something is going wrong and they need to seek help.
Mammograms are part of a brutal system that hurts women. The breast is squashed by 63lbs of weight before subject to radiation. Did you know that bags of cement used to weigh 112lbs but these days they have been made to weigh only 56lbs so that labourers on building sites do not hurt themselves! 63 pounds of weight is more than a building site worker is allowed to pick up, so I ask you, is that reasonable to use that weight in a mammogram. It’s what killed my sister Lynn! So I do not think so.
As a caring man, concerned and informed about modern health issues my message to all women, is to climb up on the battlements and protest. You should be treated with the utmost care and dignity and not subjected to this brutal system.
This is not protest for protests sake, find out the information and you will discover that there are alternative methods out there for you. For example, Thermal Imaging; that’s those pretty pictures generated by heat, also Ultrasound as well. These also need to be read by trained people. Both of these do not hurt you and can be effective.
Maybe the most important thing you can do is to teach all your girls to regularly check their breasts all through their lives so know what is normal and when something feels different and not normal anymore.
It is my experience that women in general do not know there are alternatives to the mammogram. My hope is that by giving you this information you can make an informed decision and you will be empowered to ask for better treatment that does not hurt you.
Love and healing from a heart centred farmer.
Durwin Banks
The Linseed Farm
