Mihaela Atkinson a white woman with long purple hair sits on a green sofa wearing pink glasses

A DOG SITTER from Leigh is encouraging women to go for their mammograms – when they are invited – to help catch breast cancer early.

Romanian-born Mihaela Atkinson, 52, from Leigh, was invited for her first mammogram in March.

With her wife Sue working at Manchester NHS Foundation Trust in cancer trials, Mihaela knew how important it was to take up the screening.

Mihaela Atkinson wants to demystify mammograms and get more women – including lesbian and Romanian women – to talk about them.

Mihaela, a rocker and keen cyclist who runs her own dog sitting business, said:

“The more we talk about mammograms both in the lesbian community and the Romanian community and in general the better.

“I was very pleased to get my mammogram invitation. I didn’t hesitate to go along at all. I know from growing up in Bucharest, we are lucky to benefit from this screening service in the UK, but not many women I know seem to talk about it much. So wanted to put that right! It’s a free service that’s provided by the NHS, we should go and not waste it! You don’t often see pictures of women like me in information leaflets, but mammograms are important for all women!”

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in the UK. Women are usually invited for a mammogram between the ages of 50 and 53 and will get a letter in the post. You need to be registered with a GP surgery. The mammogram uses X-rays to look for cancers that are too small to see or feel. In Mihaela’s case it showed her tissue was healthy.

Mihaela added: “When my letter came, I felt very grateful. There’s lots of information that helps you understand what a mammogram is which you receive with the letter which think is very important to have before you go there.

“I wasn’t nervous because I’m quite a logical person and I don’t have a family history of cancer, but I know that if you do find out you have breast cancer early with all the advances in medicine you have a much better chance of being treated successfully.”

Clare Garnsey, who is a breast cancer doctor and Associate Medical Director at Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance, part of the NHS, said it is important women attend their mammogram when they are invited.

She said: “I encourage people between the ages of 50 and 71 to attend their mammogram when their invitation arrives in the post, as routine mammograms can detect cancer earlier and save lives. Diagnosing cancer when it is small and hasn’t spread, often means that less invasive treatments are needed to successfully treat the cancer.”

 

Mihaela added: “My advice to other women is it’s useful to ask another woman who has been through it. My wife had had hers a few years earlier and she told me ‘it squashes your breast a bit and is painful for a couple of seconds but then that’s it!’. I thought I can put up with a small bit of pain for something so important. The NHS staff are very respectful too, all female screeners, and very caring.”

For more information see the NHS website.

Anyone registered with a GP as female will be invited for NHS breast screening every 3 years between the ages of 50 and 71. If you’re a trans man, trans woman or are non-binary you may be invited automatically, or you may need to talk to your GP surgery or call the local breast screening service to ask for an appointment. Over the age of 71 women can still self-refer into the programme every three years.