Breast cancer continues to be the most common cancer diagnosed in women. While the mortality rate has decreased secondary to early detection, there is a need to increase the mammography screening rates.
There are still patients that are not receiving mammograms for many reasons. There are also women that may get mammograms with normal findings, but could continue to need more follow up care due to heightened risks, notes Lori Boardman, MD, executive medical director at AdventHealth for Women.
In addition, if you have any symptoms of breast cancer, it's important to get to your trusted primary care doctor for an evaluation. Dr. Boardman suggests some things women should keep in mind:
- If you're experiencing breast pain, you should tell your provider because breast pain can be caused by multiple things. Sometimes it can be hormonal and those things go away. But other times it can indicate something else, so you do want to follow up with your provider and talk about that.
- There are also some visual things you should keep an eye on. If you're looking at yourself in the mirror when you get dressed in the morning, you may see some puckering of the skin. Sometimes the skin looks a little bit different or has a different texture. Again, consultation with your provider should be the next step.
This said, Dr. Boardman advises that you shouldn't immediately jump to conclusions; there are many things that can cause pains, lumps and bumps. Just make sure that you go get somebody to evaluate it, she states.
Making mammograms more accessible, for you.
We care about you, and we take extra care to make your preventive women's care easier to access. And because mammograms are such an important part of every woman's well-being, AdventHealth offers a mobile health coach that goes out into the community to provide screening mammograms.
It's really important to get out into the community to provide these services because many people don't have easy access to see a physician, explains Boardman. Transportation, imaging or physician office locations, existing health conditions, and even age can make it difficult to get to where you need to go for preventive care, she adds.
With a mobile unit that goes into the community, AdventHealth can bring important healthcare services right to women, such as where they work. Boardman says, If we bring mammograms to people at their work location, they can come out during a lunch hour or in the course of the day, get the mammogram done and go right back to work; it makes getting important care much more convenient.
In addition to a mobile unit, there are 13 Central Florida freestanding AdventHealth locations that offer convenient, easy access to mammograms. Offering same-day appointments as well as extended weekend and evening hours. Just call us and we can help direct you to the location that's closest to you, advises Boardman.
Contact AdventHealth for Women at
Call407-706-3436.
