I usually just lurk on PTV, but after reading Aja's story, I thought I'd jump in and share my experience.
i've always had regular mammograms and they've always been normal. However, the mammo I had in September was not normal and by the middle of October I had been diagnosed with breast cancer. It was a small tumor but it was "triple negative", which means that it is very aggressive and tends to metastasize quickly. So 15 days from the phone call giving me the diagnosis, I was sitting in a chemo chair. That was November 1.
I've had 11 chemo treatments so far and have 5 more to go. Then I will have surgery. A lumpectomy is probably an option, since my tumor was small, but then I'd have to have 9 weeks of daily radiation. I'll likely opt for a mastectomy, because I don't want to have the radiation.
Bottom line - get your mammograms regularly aand faithfully. My last one probably saved my life.