DENSE BREAST TISSUE ON VALENTINE’S DAY

Whole Foods Chocolates

Whole Foods Chocolates

Valentine’s Day is a day for chocolate, champagne and red roses.  Right?  Yes, well sort of!  This year, I would like it to be the year you give your loved one the gift of knowledge.  Knowledge that could save a life.  Knowledge about the dangers of dense breast tissue.  On January 24th, I gave a TEDx talk at the University of Nevada.  It was one of the proudest moments of my life.  So for this Valentine’s Day, I’m asking you to watch my talk, send it on to those you love and help me spread the message about dense breast tissue.  I was part of a day of knowledge at Microsoft Licensing in Reno recently and because of that day 2 women discovered they had breast cancer even though their mammograms showed NOTHING.  Women need to know their density.  Learn more by watching my talk.  Ok, I’m not a total Valentine’s Day buzz killer.  So here’s the deal!  Whole Foods now has some amazing chocolates.  They come in flavors like milk chocolate with cinnamon hazelnut cream, dark chocolate with caramel  and vanilla buttercream and milk chocolate with rich caramel.  An entire box of goodness is just 10 dollars!  But you can win one for free!!  Just watch my video and then make a comment or email me about how cancer has affected you.  I will pick the comment that means the most to me ON MONDAY in time for Whole Foods to get you your box of chocolates by Valentine’s day.  Good luck!!  (in case you can’t see my tedx talk below, here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQPLMWuTlWQ

About Wendy D

I was born in San Francisco and ended up marrying a rancher in Reno, Nevada. I have a big city job anchoring the 5 o’clock news but come home to the country where my husband’s family has ranched for 5 generations.

Comments

  1. Sharlea says:

    I have dense breast tissue and have had two mammograms that came back clear. I worry that the standard process isn’t good enough and my insurance won’t cover anything else without a ton of specialists visits. What’s a girl to do?

    • Wendy D says:

      Hi Sharlea. Are you in Reno? Saint Mary’s is about to get a screening device for dense breast tissue and insurance supposedly covers it. I’ll be reporting on it at the end of February.

  2. Heather says:

    Hi Wendy,
    Someone shared your TEDx on Facebook and I am so glad I watched. Thank you for sharing such a personal and inspirational story about your mother. I’ve had mammograms since I was 36 because I was placed on estrogen hormone replacement therapy due to premature ovarian failure; however, it was only after my mammogram in October 2013 at the age of 40 that I received a notice in the mail that I have dense breast tissue. I asked my OB-GYN about this, since taking estrogen unopposed for several years already increases my chance of developing breast cancer. He told me it was nothing to worry about because there’s no history of breast cancer in my family. I’m not inclined to brush away my concern so easily, but he said that it’s medically unnecessary to have the ultrasound because I am at low risk. I am especially cautious about being brushed off because my older sister was finally diagnosed with cervical and vaginal cancer years ago at the age of 26, after five years of telling doctors something was wrong and being told she had either a yeast infection or that she had allergies to her laundry detergent. I don’t always believe it when a doctor says, “It’s nothing to worry about.” How do I go about getting the scan without a reference from my doctor? I don’t have a problem paying for it out of pocket, but I didn’t think that I could just schedule one without an order. Thank you again for sharing such a painful story.

    • Wendy D says:

      Good for you Heather… for taking your own health into your hands! Renown Breast Center has the SonoCine I mentioned on my TEDx talk. Saint Mary’s is getting a different screening option at the end of February. Supposedly insurance covers it. I will be doing a story about it later this month. And Congratulations!!!!! You are the winner of my Whole Foods Chocolate give-away because I love the fact you are taking control of your health and doing what you think is right. I completely believe in the medical field, but I also believe we need to listen to our bodies and our intuition and do whatever it takes to keep ourselves safe. Congratulations!

      • Heather says:

        Thank you Wendy for the information, and for the chocolates! I’ll be putting in a call to St. Mary’s, and I’ll definitely be watching your story. Thanks again!

  3. Robin says:

    I know that the chocolates have already been won, but because of the important and personal information Wendy has shared, I feel compelled to make my posting to tell my story. I had a routine mammogram a couple of weeks ago. Still waiting on the results to come in the mail, but it’s always been NORMAL so, what’s to think about. Well, over the weekend I was scrolling through Facebook and came across Wendy’s TEDx talk and wow, how it moved me. Brought me to tears. First thing Monday morning I call the place where I had my mammogram done to ask if I have dense breasts. The tech tells me that she cannot give me this info and that I should call my doctor. Ok, I say and off I go. I call my doctors office and am to leave a message for the nurse. 3:30 today, while i’m waiting to pick my children up from school, my phone rings – the nurse tells me that I have EXTREMELY dense breast tissue, and that my mammogram is normal. Wow – I hold back the tears within me to listen further hear what she has to say. She recommends that I get a SonoCine at Renown and even provides me with the phone number. After I hung up the phone, and before my son walked up to me I cried. I don’t really have BAD news, but the overflow of emotions of the power of information I have over my own health, my own body was big. I managed to put back the tears, hug my children and go home. As soon as I got home I called Renown and have my SonoCine appt for later this month. Thank you Wendy Damonte for the research that you have shared with the world, for me to pass along to my daughter, my friends. I am praying for normal results on this test. Thank You!!!

    • Wendy D says:

      Robin, I am so proud of you for being on top of your health!!! I’m so proud of you for making your appointment for a SonoCine and doing everything you can to be informed. That’s still the hardest part for me to swallow concerning my mom. She used to always ask me, “How could this have happened so quickly?” Those words haunt me and that’s why I’m doing all I can to inform women about dense breast tissue. Keep me posted with your results! Love your Way!!

      • Robin says:

        Got the SonoCine done today for $195 and then afterwards found out that St.Mary’s does have the ABUS that they say is covered by insurance…ugh. Oh well. Still money well spent for the peace of knowing. Thanks again Wendy, for all the information.

  4. Beck marko says:

    Wendy, I don’t think that you could have shared your video at a better time. This last week has been the down side of a roller coaster. You gave me to courage to finally talk to my new doctor about breast health and because of my family history and the progressive disease that I have (CRPS), I would be VERY limited on any kind of cancer treatment. I thought that was scary, but nothing compared to the news that I got yesterday. My mom’s breast cancer is back for the third time. This time, in her other breast. She battled it 20 years ago, all went well. Then three years ago, it came back and was stage 3b2. They did a one sided mastectomy, radiation and chemo. Hitting the life dose of radiation and several chemo drugs. She “beat the odds” until her last check up when the doctor felt “something”. She said that she just knew what it was once they said “biopsy”. This time, she does not know what or even if there is any treatment out there. After watching your video, she told me that she has dense breast tissue and her tumor hid as well. I never even knew to ask this stuff before. You have changed my life, heck, you could have saved my life! You are an inspiration! I just can’t say thank you enough. There have been many times that your blog has inspired me. I was able to lose 60lbs because of your paleo challenge and now I finally got the courage to ask questions that I have been honestly too scared to ask before. You are a hero to so many and I am blessed that you are willing to speak out about such a “private” subject.

    • Wendy D says:

      Beck, thank you so much for this beautiful message. I’m so proud of you for talking to your doctor and getting the answers you need and deserve. I’m so sorry about your mom. It’s such a horrible thing to watch our loved ones go through such pain. I’ll be saying a prayer for her.

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