Breast cancer survivor stunned by new screening guidelines

Palm Harbor, Florida - Teresa Lennon is stunned by the new breast cancer screening guidelines issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

"I was in disbelief. I was upset. I was angry," says Lennon from her Palm Harbor home.

Read More: Breast Cancer Screening Recommendations

Lennon found a lump last February herself, so she finds especially dangerous the panel's recommendation discouraging self-exam.

"To tell us not to examine ourselves and that's not necessary and that's not going to help-that's how I found it," says Lennon, who is bald because of chemotherapy and radiation.

Doctors too worry that the new guidelines will confuse women. Dr. Richard Roetzheim runs the screening program at Moffitt Cancer Center and says women need to make decisions about mammograms with their doctors.

"Women in their 40's, this panel did not say-don't get a mammogram. It said have this discussion; talk about these issues with your doctor," says Roetzheim, who is also affiliated with USF Health.

Roetzheim understands the science behind the task force recommendations. The panel noted that especially in women under 50, mammograms can be wrong and lead to unnecessary tests.  But Roetzheim also says mammograms save lives.

"This is clearly a judgment: how many lives have to be saved to justify undergoing screening," says Roetzheim.

But when it comes to statistics, survivors like Lennon say any prevention success matters.

"I don't care what their statistics say," says Lennon. "Put them in the shoes of a woman who's gone through it and they'll sing a different song."