Posts Tagged ‘mammogram’

Beauty Is… Loving a Breast Cancer Survivor

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

One of our patients passed along this beautiful story to us.

Kailyn B. Wrighten, a second grader at Howe Hall AIMS, was asked to write an essay in a district-wide writing contest. The theme of the contest was “Beauty is…”. She chose to write about something very personal and special to her, an aunt who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. This very insightful young lady won first place. Here is her essay:

Beauty is…

Beauty is Love, Beauty is Family, Beauty is Courage. This is a story of my aunt Natalie and me. My Aunt Natalie had breast cancer for three and a half years. When I heard she had breast cancer, I felt so sad. I did not feel good. I was so scared I cried day and night. I felt better when she was out of the hospital. Now she is better and I keep her in my heart every day. But even though she is not here in South Carolina, she is very close to me.

I have been going to the cancer walks in Charlotte, N.C. This year I finished the whole race with my Aunt and her Team Natalie. I was tired. I knew she had the strength to fight her breast cancer, so I kept going. When we first got there, we saw a lot of people and a lot of people wearing the most important color of the race pink.

At the end of the race we went to the balloon ceremony. You get your own balloons of how many years you have had breast cancer in your life. They also had a lady there who was a one day survivor. Then there was an old lady who was standing right behind me who released 50 balloons!!!!!!!

(Now my favorite color has a special meaning to me!)

Beauty is pink, Beauty is God, Beauty is courage, Beauty is passion for Life!

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Who’s Reading Your Mammogram? It Matters!

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

Would you go to a big box supercenter like Wal-mart for a tailored suit? You shouldn’t go to a one-size-fits all center for your mammogram either, because just exactly who is looking at your mammogram?

Just as Wal-mart cannot possibly offer the absolute best quality in every item it carries (they’d never have such great prices), all radiology departments don’t offer the same specially-trained radiologists as the Charleston Breast Center. In fact, radiologists in larger institutions often work in rotations, which means that the person who is reading your mammogram may have excellent credentials … in neurology!

Our physicians have done additional fellowships to train them to read breast tissue – and is literally all they do all day long. And the proof is in the pudding! Their ability to “catch” a questionable spot on your mammogram or breast MRI rates higher than the national average, in fact twice the national average. And we’re the only center in coastal South Carolina designated a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology.

We’re proud that we know breasts backwards and forwards! SO… who’s reading your mammogram?

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It’s Nice to Be Heard

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

When the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued guidelines in November that seemed to be leading the way for decreased coverage for breast cancer screening, women’s groups, doctors and imaging-equipment makers began putting pressure on lawmakers with angry calls and emails relating their confusion.

And Washington seems to be listening.

The Senate added an amendment from Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D., Md.) to its health-overhaul bill that effectively nullified the new guidelines and promised mammogram coverage for women starting at age 40. The House lawmakers voted unanimously for a resolution named for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.), a breast-cancer survivor, saying the task-force guidelines shouldn’t be used by insurers to deny coverage for routine mammograms. Negotiations are currently in progress to include these measures in the final healthcare bill.

Keep yelling , girls!

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Breast MRI vs Mammogram

Monday, January 11th, 2010

We recommend an annual mammogram every year after you turn 40 years old, but what is a breast MRI and why is it important?

A mammogram is an x-ray of your breast. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the breast — or breast MRI —uses a computer to combine multiple images taken of the breast tissue to generate a more detailed picture.

We usually perform a breast MRI when your doctor needs more information than a mammogram, ultrasound or clinical breast exam can provide. In certain situations, such as when a woman has a very high risk of breast cancer, breast MRI may be used as a screening tool for detecting breast cancer.  We also use an MRI to spot a possible implant rupture. Your doctor may recommend a breast MRI if:

  • You’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer and your doctor wants to determine the extent of the cancer
  • Your doctor finds a suspicious area on your mammogram
  • You or your doctor can feel a mass or other lump in your breast, but it’s not detectable on mammogram or ultrasound
  • Your doctor wants to monitor your opposite breast after you’ve been newly diagnosed or treated for breast cancer in the other breast
  • You have very dense breast tissue and your prior breast cancer wasn’t detected on mammogram

Charleston Breast Center even has a new “pink” MRI machine that has already detected cancers unseen by mammogram.

A breast MRI is most effective when used in addition to a mammogram or another breast-imaging test — not as a replacement for a mammogram. Although it’s a very sensitive test, breast MRI can still miss some breast cancers that a mammogram will detect. It’s just one more tool we use to keep you healthy.

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Get Un-Busy

Monday, December 14th, 2009

Everyone is overbooked these days. We schedule our kids after school and balance our social calendar and run all over town never quite checking everything off of our to-do lists — especially during the holiday season! There’s never enough time to get everything done and every person taken care of. Busy, busy, busy.

If you look up busy in Webster’s, definition No. 4 says, “Full of distracting detail.” What is the busyness of your life distracting you from? Are you using a hectic schedule to give you permission to avoid doing things that are necessary but not fun? Like getting your teeth cleaned? Or getting a mammogram?

A friend of mine always schedules her mammogram on or near her birthday for three reasons:
1) It’s a date that she will always remember.
2) There’s usually lots of other fun things going on to reward herself with when she is finished.
3) Her health is a gift to herself.

So slow down, get un-busy and make an annual date with yourself. You are SO worth it.

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Pretty But Painful

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

Women are not nice to their bodies. And they never have been. Victorian women had their lower ribs removed in order to produce small waists. For hundreds of years the Chinese have bound the feet of young ladies to keep them petite and delicate. Americans inject toxins into their faces to appear a little younger and less stressed.

In fact the saying goes, “It’s better to look good, than to feel good.”

We’re willing to undergo actual pain to look good, but yet many of us are afraid of the slight discomfort of a mammogram. And if we’re not alive, what good is being pretty? Here are some other things women do for the sake of beauty:
· Lash tinting · Bikini wax – Have you seen the part of 40 year old virgin where Steve Carrell gets his chest waxed? Ouch!
· Stiletto heels
· Belly button piercing
· Tummy tuck (major surgery, like a c-section!)

So the next time you hesitate at getting your mammogram out of fear of discomfort, just think of the above and remember the most beautiful part of life is living it!

Oh, and check out our video that proves to you the Charleston Breast Center is NOT a little shop of horrors! What is the most painful part of your beauty regime?

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