A RETIRED nurse is urging women to attend their breast screening appointments after being diagnosed with cancer at the age of 68 - and she says it really did save her life.
Sue Wilson, now 70, has been chosen as the only woman in Yorkshire to take part in the first-ever NHS breast screening campaign - and she admits that she owes her life to the screening appointments.
Sue, of Old Town, told the Chronicle that when she received the letter for her mammogram appointment she didn’t think she was going to go.
But thankfully she changed her mind, and that has helped save her life.
She said: “When I got the letter asking me to go for my appointment I was 68 years old.
“That would have been my last ever screening because they stop when you’re 70.
“I wasn’t going to go - I thought ‘I’ve never had it before, I’m fit and healthy’ so what’s the point?
“I ended up going anyway as I’m a retired nurse and it’s a good job that I did.”
She was told by doctors that she had breast cancer after that appointment.
Three weeks after she was diagnosed, she underwent surgery to remove the cancer and was then treated with radiotherapy over two weeks.
Now in remission, Susan, a nurse for 50 years, has thrown herself into the things that bring her joy, including her drama and debating groups, walking, swimming and singing with the We Can Survive Singers.
“The day I was told I was all clear was the day the rest of my life began,” she said
“Since then, I’ve been enjoying life and doing things that make me happy - but it could have been so very different had I not gone to my breast screening appointment when invited.
“I couldn’t feel the lump in my breast but you never know.
“It’s just a few minutes of your time - but it could save your life.
“It literally saved mine.”
Supported by leading charity Breast Cancer Now, the NHS campaign highlights the benefits of screening and encourages more women to make the most of regular mammograms, as figures show more than four in ten invited for the first time don’t act on their invitation.
If screening attendance could be improved to 80 per cent of those eligible next year, nearly a million more women could be screened, compared to 2022/23 - with over 7,500 additional breast cancers detected at an earlier stage, when they are more treatable, the NHS estimates.
Last year alone, NHS breast screening services detected cancers in 18,942 women across England, which otherwise may not have been diagnosed or treated until a later stage, and the most comprehensive review to date found around 1,300 deaths are prevented each year by the breast screening programme.
Sue added: “It could have been so much worse if I didn’t attend the appointment.
“The more people we can reach urging them to go to their appointment the better.”
