Local Battles Breast Cancer For 2nd Time

Once a month Kay Coffey gets together with her church friends, rolls up her sleeves and rolls the dice.

Playing bunko is just one thing she does to get her mind off cancer.

Two years ago doctors diagnosed Coffey with breast cancer for the second time. She's been living with it ever since.

"Once it comes back it's stage four and incurable," said Coffey, who's currently getting treatment to keep it from spreading.

Coffey just read about the new radical breast cancer screening guidelines suggested by a federal task force.

The task force is saying women in their 40s should stop getting annual mammograms and not start until their 50.

"Well, my initial response is 'That's crazy,'" she said.

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They also recommend against teaching women to do regular self-breast exams.

Coffey said her regular self-check is what saved her life.

"I was in the shower and I found a lump," she said.

Some cancer survivors think the task force's suggestions are risky, like rolling the dice and gambling with your health.

But the federal task force insists that more tests and exams are not always beneficial.

In fact, they said it can harm patients. Mammograms, they argue, can produce false-positive results in about 10 percent of cases, causing women to undergo unnecessary and sometimes disfiguring biopsies and unneeded treatment.

"Mammograms, to me, should be done before (age) 40 if anything, not later," Coffey said.

She said she'll continue to work with her doctor and do what he recommends.

She recommends staying busy.