Health committee  Well, staffing is a problem everywhere. I would still say we can train or educate women, maybe not using health care professionals, but using real survivors. I was really surprised in October and November when I attended two women's health shows. I couldn't believe there were s

Health committee  I agree with her. The health-care providers definitely need education, because most of the time when dense breast is seen but no cancer is diagnosed, it comes back as a normal report. We might end up having staging--whether it is 25% of dense breast or it is 50% of dense breast.

Health committee  Thank you for that question. It's a good point. Feather had a hand-held ultrasound. As I mentioned, that kind of ultrasound really depends on the skills and the experience of the operator, and there's no human being who can take 300 images with every millimetre of the breast. T

Health committee  Thank you.

Health committee  These survivors are not financially connected to our organization. I work with them on a volunteer basis. I met Feather and asked her to help us educate women. That's why she's here today.

Health committee  Yes.

Health committee  Yes.

Health committee  The manufacturers are working on those machines in the direction of just making machines for one purpose. I'm sure that, in the future, there will be some more.

Health committee  May I...?

Health committee  Well, there are some women who stay away from mammograms because of the radiation. They get that information from the media, not from their health care provider. Some women will visit their naturopathic doctor and mention that, no, they won't go for a mammogram because radiatio

Health committee  Our organization definitely is working on educating women and health care professionals. I am not aware of other organizations.... You are involved, Feather. Are you aware of any organizations? Feather is from B.C., and she was diagnosed at age 23.

Health committee  Are you asking how often they get tested, or how often they should be tested?

Health committee  Okay. For a mammogram, the recommendation is for women over the age of 40. In some provinces, the recommendation is for women over 50. For an ultrasound, there is no limit; it's for any age. If a woman is high-risk, she can have this test at any age, but for screening purposes,

Health committee  The initial test is a mammogram, all the time. As a second test, the ultrasound plays a really good role, especially automated 3-D ultrasound, because you get the picture of the whole breast and the radiologist can see different planes of the lesion. If they catch something, th

Health committee  We met in October at a women's health show. That was the first time Feather heard from us about the dense breast-tissue issues.