Breast cancer survivor calls for access to routine mammograms for all Canadian women in their 40s

'Eighty per cent of women who get breast cancer have no family history ... so we can't restrict it to just women with a family history,' said Dr. Jane Seely of The Ottawa Hospital.

When Shira Farber turned 40 she asked her family physician about starting routine mammograms. With no family history of breast cancer, and given her age, she said her doctor advised her that there was no rush.

“I was really sort of discouraged from starting mammograms. The doctor leaned on the guidelines that were established … so that we didn’t need to start until 50,” she recalled.

At age 47, Farber found a lump in her breast. Six weeks later, she went for her first mammogram.

“At that point, it was already in advanced stage of cancer,” she said.

Following the mammogram, Farber was referred to Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto for a biopsy.

“They found three large tumours in my breast. I needed to have very aggressive chemotherapy. I lost all of my hair. I was very, very, very sick. I developed cardiac issues, either as a result of the chemotherapy or the radiation … then I had a full mastectomy. I also had a sentinel node removal, so they took out 36 nodes. I now have lymphedema.”

Farber is now pushing for earlier, routine breast cancer screening for all Canadian women.

She is not alone in this fight.