"For your breasts I give you ten out of ten"

As worries rise over a reduced number of US women having mammograms, Linda Jones puts her "breast cancer scare" behind her...

A heart-felt thank you to everyone who got in touch to wish me well after reading on Dollymix about my recent check up to see if there was anything wrong in the bazookas department.

I'm delighted to report that my follow-up hospital appointment resulted in me kicking my heels and shouting "yeeeessss!" as I hot-footed it away down the corridor, hoping that I'll never have to return.

"For your breasts I give you ten out of ten," the lovely doctor told me. I didn't as Nora suggested I might, get a gold star to stick on each of them, but as they were dangling loosely in the region of my knees, that might just have been too much to expect.

I was one of the lucky ones (well apart from having t*ts down by my knees). But so it appears, were the rest of the assembled nervous looking women awaiting their ultrasound scans. As my time approached, I counted them in and I counted them out (now where have I heard that before?) as each and every one of them was discharged.

To see the anxiety etched on their faces as they held hands with partners or husbands replaced by an expression of 'phew I'm glad that's over' was a touching sight. One by one they turned away to leave, their men silently and softly stroking their backs or pulling them close for a big old smacker.

Every one of us was treated quietly and respectfully. The lady doing the scan even apologised for having cold hands. Perhaps too predictably, I smiled back: "Cold hands, warm heart." Unsurprisingly, she seemed a bit discombobulated by my - quite possibly inappropriate - mateyness.

But still, what I'm taking away from this experience is that when the "experts" advise you shouldn't hold back from reporting any change or lump in your chest, no matter how unlikely you hope it is that there's anything wrong - they mean it. If you are worrying about wasting their time - don't.

Personally, I'd suspect this fear of being a "pain" or of "putting on" people may also be a factor in the reduced number of US women having mammograms as Cate reports today.

As women we put ourselves last too often. If you have any doubts whatsoever, get yourself to the doctor's - you might get top marks too.

Linda Jones is director of the agency Passionate Media and mum to Emily and Melissa, aged eight. She once went into Marks & Spencer in a 34B bra (which chafed a bit) and came out in a 40DD one, after possibly the most embarrassing 20 minutes involving a tape measure in her life.

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