The Appointment She Almost Didn't Make
A few years ago, a patient sat across from me for her annual visit. Late thirties, two kids, running her own business, the kind of person who has a to-do list for her to-do list. We went through the usual questions, and I asked when she'd last had a mammogram.
She laughed. Not because it was funny, but because she genuinely couldn't remember. "Maybe three years ago? I know I'm supposed to go. I just never got around to scheduling it."
I hear some version of that sentence more than almost anything else in my office. Not because my patients don't care about their health. Because they care about everyone else's first, and their own screening gets pushed to the bottom of a list that never actually ends.
So I want to take a few minutes and talk about why this particular appointment deserves to move up.
The number that changed how I talk about this
One in eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. I used to say that statistic and move on quickly, because it's the kind of number that makes people want to look away. But here's the part that actually matters more: most of those women have no family history at all. No genetic marker, no relative who had it, nothing that would have flagged them as "high risk" on paper.
That's the thing about breast cancer. It doesn't wait for a reason to show up. Which means screening can't wait for one either.
The good news, and there is real good news here, is that breast cancer is one of the most treatable cancers we have when it's caught early. The five-year survival rate for cancer caught at an early, localized stage is dramatically higher than for cancer caught later. A mammogram doesn't prevent cancer. What it does is give you and your doctor the chance to catch it while it's still small, still contained, still easier to treat.
That's the whole case for screening, really. Not fear. Timing.
Why so many of my patients put it off
In my experience, it's rarely a single reason. It's usually three or four small ones stacked together.
"I don't have time." I understand this one better than most people realize, because I run a business too. But a screening mammogram takes less time than most of the meetings on your calendar this week.
"I don't have symptoms, so I'm probably fine." This is the one I want to gently push back on the most. Screening mammograms exist specifically for people without symptoms. If you wait for a symptom to show up before you get screened, you've skipped the entire point of screening.
"I'm not sure I'm 'due' yet." If you're 40 or older, you're due. If you're under 40 with a family history or other risk factors, this is worth a real conversation with your doctor about when to start. And if you genuinely don't remember your last mammogram, that alone is a good enough reason to schedule one.
"It's expensive, or my insurance makes it complicated." This one is real, and it's the one I can actually do something about.
What I did about it
That patient I mentioned at the beginning finally went in for her mammogram about two months after that conversation. It came back normal, which is the outcome I hope for every single patient, every single time. But what stuck with me was how much relief she felt just from having it done. Not because she was expecting bad news. Because she'd been carrying the not knowing around for three years without realizing how much space it was taking up.
I don't want cost or scheduling friction to be the reason any of my patients carry that around longer than they need to. So this October and November (2026), Doc and Me Health has partnered with a local imaging center to offer screening mammograms to our patients for $100 flat, no insurance billing required. No prior authorization maze, no surprise bill weeks later.
If you're 40 or older, if you're overdue and not sure when your last one was, or if you're under 40 with a family history worth discussing, this is your invitation to stop putting it at the bottom of the list. Message our office or bring it up at your next visit, and we'll send your referral straight over. You'll schedule directly with the imaging center and pay $100 at your appointment.
This window closes at the end of November. I'd rather you be the patient who made the appointment than the one who meant to.
With care,
Dr. Tooba Rehman
Doc and Me Health
