Personally -- having benefitted from ultrasound tests not just on carotid arteries as well as by noninvasive stress testing I can't imagine not having the tests if my doctor suggests them. A friend who had a routine check on the carotids found they were 75% blocked and had no idea from any symptoms.
I prefer to take decisions based on knowledge rather than ignorance since deciding not to take action is just as much a decision as deciding to go for some kind of treatment.
I don't think treatment is necessarily invasive and can be medication but don't you owe anyone -- even your mother -- the courtesy of taking some precautions to avoid a stroke leaving you paralysed?
I have confidence in both the primary care doctors I've had in the 15 years back here in the USA under Medicare that neither of them are heavy handed on invasive action. At present, at the suggestion of my primary, I'm going for pain management, (joints, lower back etc -- just had both knees done with Hyalgan) to a former orthopedic surgeon who no longer operates and only does pain management -- I like the idea that he's been inside and seen and touched the regions he's treating but feels under no compulsion to cut because his golf club fees are due. <g>
I do not have the same confidence in my gastro-ent surgeon, not because of his golf club but because he opened an out-patient surgery center near his office and I found myself in there more frequently than I liked for internal examinations when he already had said he could not get more than 15 inches up my intestines because of a sharp bend ..... So I just don't go to him any more for routine checkups; my primary knows why and agrees with me .....
In the case of your mother, I think it is a little different because the treatment if there is cancer does inevitably affect quality of life and arguably more rapidly than not having treatment for a malignancy would.
In our parish we have a small team of Franciscan sisters working as parish assistants and one of them was diagnosed with breast cancer in her 60's. She decided not to take any treatment for it and with a prognosis of about 18 months I think it was lived on for about 6 years of continuous and loving parish activity until only a few months before her death. One of her duties was looking after the local hospitals so I used to see her from time to time when I was in so I counted her as one of my friends.
An indication of how wonderful a person she was is that those of us in contact with her by email received an email from her the day after her funeral thanking us for our loving friendship and that we were not to mourn her since she was now where she had hoped to go.......
Hugh | 
