Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Dr. Seely, for all your testimony today.
We've definitely seen a reaction from the community. We've seen a reaction from women, who have a hard time being believed on many things but certainly on their health. I hear your comments about going back to the drawing board. It seems like this study is perhaps antiquated and needs to be modernized.
Dr. Seely, I'm going to ask you about what special considerations you would want if this task force goes back to the drawing board, but before I do, I want to share my personal story.
I was diagnosed with breast cancer in my forties, and I think people forget that we have children. Most women who are diagnosed with breast cancer in their forties have children. My youngest was in grade 6 at the time, and I think some of the visceral response we've seen from the community is due to the fact that the task force didn't seem to consider what impact breast cancer has on the people who experience it.
It took me two years for my doctor to get me screened. You mentioned the supplementary screening. I have dense breasts, and in the end, the cancer was close to my pectoral muscle and needed an ultrasound to be found. It was lobular, not ductal, so it grew in sheets and could not be felt as a lump. I chose to have a double mastectomy because of the stress of not being believed for two years and then being at stage 2 before they found it. Having to tell my children was very difficult.
Terry Fox is from the Tri-Cities, where I am in Port Coquitlam. Their run is in Coquitlam, and every year the students of SD 43, our school district, do a Terry Fox run. To see your sixth-grader put your name after “I'm running for” is something I wouldn't want any woman to see.
I'm sorry; I'm upset today. I didn't think I would get upset.
I wonder if you could let us know what the new technologies are. What is the task force missing? What are the special considerations they need to remember when the government sends this back for reconsideration?