Mammograms encouraged year-round

Oct. 29—Women are encouraged to be screened for breast cancer all year long, but there's a special push in October.

"And we also do a $99 special that will help women who can't afford a mammogram. We also have the Pink the Basin that can get a mammogram for free ...," Medical Center Hospital Supervisor of Women's Imaging Becky Wiscombe said.

Women's Imaging generally sees between 45 and 55 patients per day, plus they provide biopsies and bone density exams.

Pink the Basin also helps women who may not be able to afford an exam.

The American Cancer Society website says, "Breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women, except for skin cancers. The average risk of a woman in the United States developing breast cancer sometime in her life is about 13%. This means there is a 1 in 8 chance she will develop breast cancer. This also means there is a 7 in 8 chance she will never have the disease."

Asked if breast cancer screening and bone density go together, Wiscombe said it does for women with certain preexisting conditions for bone loss or people over the age of 65 who have gone through menopause and need to be checked for bone loss.

"There are also some younger people who have medical conditions, or certain medications that they're on that contribute to bone loss so we do bone densities for them as well," Wiscombe said.

The past year and a half has seen a lot of women put off getting mammograms.

"Last year when the pandemic was at its highest, we ... weren't able to be open as much as we wanted. Because of the pandemic, we were more focused on doing our diagnostic studies for women who had a problem that they knew of, or that their doctor knew of. A lot of women did put off their screens because they were afraid to come in because of COVID," Wiscombe said.

"This year, it has kind of turned around. I think there's been a push by the media and by just people in general that breast cancer and other types of diseases don't stop because there's COVID. We still need to get screened and get checked for certain conditions yearly whether there's COVID or not. We take very high precautions here with our masks. We wear gloves. We screen our patients when they come in the door, so the precautions are very high for ourselves and for our patients. And we clean, of course, between patients all day," she added.

Another issue that can keep women from getting mammograms is that they think it hurts or that it's uncomfortable. It can be uncomfortable for women who have fibrocystic breasts or who are on their monthly cycle.

"... But it is only a 10-to 15-second exam for each picture. It's very quick, in and out ...," Wiscombe said.

She added that they are very careful and considerate of a woman's tolerance for pain.

"It's good to take, if you can, maybe a Tylenol prior to coming. And sometimes that does help alleviate some of the uncomfortable feeling that you had from a mammogram. Most women get through it without any problems. It's really a very quick exam," Wiscombe said.

For a diagnostic mammogram, they get the results the same day.

"Our doctor talks to every patient on diagnostic mornings. On the screenings, if we have their prior exams available, it's generally within a week — three to five days. We try to get them read the next day, but if we don't have their prior studies it's going to take a little bit longer," Wiscombe said.

As a general rule, women should start getting screened at age 40.

"If you have family history, significant family history — mom, grandmother, sister — those women should start 10 years prior to their mother's diagnosis. So if the mom was diagnosed at 42, they should get their first screening at the age of 32 unless they're feeling a problem and they need to come in earlier than that. On those ladies, we would probably just do an ultrasound if they're under the age of 30. But if you're over 30, we would generally go ahead and do a mammogram if you have a significant family history," Wiscombe said.

She added that breast self-exams are important. If you are in menopause or past it, you should still do one about the same time every month.

"Mammography is not 100% foolproof ... It's more important to get your doctor's clinical breast exam; check yourself every month ... about a week after your cycle ... and then get your mammogram. Those three things are the top three to finding breast cancers," Wiscombe said.

If you are in or past menopause, you should still get your mammogram every year.

"Most breast cancers occur in women over the age of 50, so it's very important. We find lots of those ladies who are in menopause or past menopause, it's very important to get your yearly mammogram. As far as stopping doing your mammogram, we have some ladies that say why do I have to get [one] and I'm this age, or whatever. If you would not do something about it, if you would decide that I wouldn't have a biopsy even if you found something, then there's no point in getting a mammogram. But if you would take care of it, we found something, then you should definitely go ahead and get your studies done," she said.

With younger women who get breast cancer, Wiscombe said it tends to be more aggressive.

"... Why that is I'm really not sure, but it may be that when a younger person finds something," they may have a tendency to say it's nothing, it's just their period or they've felt it before.

"... And a lot of younger women don't know about self breast exam[s] and getting their yearly exam from their doctor and all of that, so that plays into it as well," she said.

Wiscombe said most of their mammograms are 3D, but they can still do 2D.

"It was much more difficult to see through the breast tissue years ago. What they had they thought was gold standard at the time. It was the best we had. They were very difficult to read and ... I'm positively sure that there were a lot of breast cancers missed at that time, especially in the early stages of the cancer. As technology got better, we were able to see through the breast tissue better and better as every new machine came out and new ways to do an exam came out. Now with the digital that we had just a few years ago, we thought that was fantastic. And now with 3D, I can't even imagine what the next technology is going to be because this is a phenomenal technology with 3D tomosynthesis. So I'm excited to see what the next technology is going to be in the future for breast cancer," Wiscombe said.

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