A new study that suggests women get their first mammogram at 50 is creating waves of controversy. While a mammogram is the first round of defense for cancer screenings, it doesn't always detect it.
It's a truth a Tri-State woman found out the hard way.
Montgomery mother Sarah Rumpke may have saved her own life. "Basically you think your world is dropping out from under you and they they say mastectomy and it scares you to death."
A routine mammogram found a small cancerous tumor in Rumpke's breast. She had a lumpectomy and was about to start radiation. Sarah knew it was crucial to her care for her to be her own advocate, so she did some research and approached her doctor about a breast MRI.
"She basically said I don't really think it's necessary because I think we got it all. I think you're good. I think you're safe," Sarah said in reference to her conversation with her doctor. She wanted peace of mind, so she went ahead with the MRI. And there was another tumor. Something Sarah's doctor couldn't believe.
The mammogram is a trusted test, but not perfect.
We spoke with Doctor William Drew about breast MRI's. "For my wife, I'd rather have her getting a breasts MRI because the MRI is not going to to miss the little tiny breast cancers that you can miss with mammograms," said Dr. Drew.
Doctor Drew of Dearborn County Hospital is conducting a study to determine just how effective an MRI is at detecting cancer.
"Even though you're starting out with a much more expensive test, you can avoid those expensive therapies in treating late stage cancers," said Dr. Drew.
Finding the second tumor early helped save Sarah's life. She had a mastectomy and is now cancer-free.
"Had I not been assertive to get that MRI I may have shortened my life by a lot of years," said Rumpke.
The Dearborn County Hospital study is the first in the country that is open to anyone that has had a mammogram.
The study is still taking participants.
