September 15, 2007
Merrilyn Blackmore, YKHC’s Mammographer/Radiographer, will be traveling to villages with the mobile mammography machine.
Mobile mammography coming to SRCs
For many years mammograms, otherwise known as breast x-ray exams, have been performed at the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Regional Hospital in Bethel, with women from all over the region traveling in to receive their exam.
Now, YKHC is taking an active role in bringing breast cancer screening closer to home by offering mammograms in the villages—thanks to the Women’s Health Grant, mammograms will be on-the-go with a new mobile mammography machine.
The joint effort of the Women’s Health Program and the Diagnostic Imaging department is all about screening women for the early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer. The goal is to detect cancerous diseases before symptoms begin.
Breast cancer is the second most prevalent cancer in Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta women after colo-rectal cancer. According to The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium’s Cancer Incidence Report, there was a 200 percent increase in the incidence of breast cancer in the YK Delta between 1969 and 2003.
A mammography exam, called a mammogram, plays a key role in the early detection of breast cancer. It can show changes in the breast up to two years before a patient or physician can feel them.
The mobile mammography unit was purchased by the Women’s Health Grant. It is scheduled to be fully operating in October, which happens to be National Breast Health Awareness Month. The first scheduled trip will be to the Aniak Subregional Clinic.
“Currently, mammography is the most efficient means for detecting abnormalities in the breast.” said Luke Vanasse, Director of Women’s Health. “In the past we contracted mobile mammography services to screen in the villages. Now that we have our own mobile machine, we’re able to reduce the expenses and complexities associated with contracting an outside organization.”
YKHC Women’s Health program is designed for low-income YK Delta women to receive their regular breast and cervical screenings. During the subregional mammogram clinics, women from surrounding villages will have the opportunity to fly in to their subregional site to receive a mammogram.
Mammograms usually involve two views (x-ray pictures) of each breast. Women who are breast-feeding can still get mammograms, although these are probably not quite as accurate (American Cancer Society—www.cancer.org).
The American Cancer Society recommends early breast cancer screening each year for women age 40 and older; women in their 20s and 30s should have a clinical breast exam as part of their regular health exams every year.
For more information about breast cancer, you can visit the American Cancer Society website at www.cancer.org or call YKHC’s Women’s Health Program at 907-543-6189