Annual Cancer Screenings: Don't Wait!

From the very beginning I was given a list of four phases or steps. Once one phase has been completed and approved, the next step can be started.

I thought this meant that my cancer screenings should be fit in the phase they put it in, Phase 3, but it was put in that phase because that is where they obtain those results from my medical file. It was expected that I always get my annual screenings, so they just obtain the results.

I hadn't had mine, and according to my age (over 40 and under 50) I needed to have a breast exam and mammogram, and I needed a pap smear. Had I been 50, instead of 47, I would also have needed a colonoscopy. It all worked out just fine, but the process would have been about a month shorter, had I done my exams at the very beginning.

If you haven't had yours done recently and are of age, don't wait. Get it done and off your list now. You don't need a physician's order to get them done, just an appointment that you make on your own.
The mammogram took a few days to get the results back. The pap smear takes two weeks to get results.

If you don't have insurance, and if $800 would otherwise keep you from getting your screenings, and think you might qualify for financial help, you might go to your county health clinic and see if they have a program or voucher for those who qualify, to make it affordable for you. Be prepared that you don't just walk in for these. You set an appointment at the clinic and at the hospital. They have days and times set aside for patients with vouchers. My clinic was a month out.