{"id":18645,"date":"2022-09-07T09:49:04","date_gmt":"2022-09-07T15:49:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=18645"},"modified":"2022-09-13T15:08:15","modified_gmt":"2022-09-13T21:08:15","slug":"how-a-mammogram-can-save-your-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/how-a-mammogram-can-save-your-life\/","title":{"rendered":"How a mammogram can save your life"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Pam Carnahan is not a \u201cdoctor person.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pam
Pam Carnahan didn\u2019t think she needed to schedule a mammogram but her doctor\u2019s office insisted she make an appointment for routine health maintenance. And it was a good thing she did as she\u2019s now cancer free. Photos by Joel Blocker, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure there are a lot of people like me,\u201d she said. \u201cMy thought\u2019s always been if you just wait long enough, it will go away \u2014 there\u2019s no need to see a doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n

When her primary care physician, Dr. Brian Schmalhorst<\/a>, told her it was time to get a mammogram, she blew it off. Then she got a call from his office, UCHealth Family Medicine Clinic in Greeley<\/a>, reminding her again to schedule a mammogram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Women of average risk should begin routine mammography screening annually at age 40, said Angelica Thiel, director of breast imaging for UCHealth in northern Colorado.<\/p>\n

Carnahan had no major health issues except for high blood pressure, for which she takes medication. And at the time, refilling that medication, she admitted, was the only reason she saw her doctor annually. At 68 years old, she\u2019d only had one mammogram.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got that call and I thought, \u2018OK, I guess I\u2019ll have to go in.\u2019 And it\u2019s a good thing I did,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Carnahan had a mammogram, which detected a mass.<\/p>\n

Early detection: The importance of scheduling a mammogram<\/strong><\/h2>\n

About a month later, Carnahan went back for a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound. A\u00a0 mass on her left breast was forming near the chest wall. Because of its location and small size, it would have been almost impossible to detect with a self-breast exam.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey made me an appointment for a needle biopsy the next day, and I thought to myself, \u2018Why am I coming back so soon?\u2019 That concerned me,\u201d Carnahan said.<\/p>\n

Carnahan had never considered her risk of cancer. She didn\u2019t have a family history of breast cancer. However, her mom had died of lung cancer as a non-smoker; her mom\u2019s sister was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, as was her dad\u2019s sister, and another relative had melanoma. But she mistakenly thought she was past the age of worry.<\/p>\n

One in eight women will develop breast cancer at some point in their lives, and the risk of developing it increases with each decade, according to the National Cancer Institute<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Monday following her needle biopsy, Schmalhorst called her.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe mentioned the word \u2018cancer,\u2019\u201d Carnahan said. \u201cThat was awful.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was stage 1 breast cancer.<\/p>\n

\"Pam
Pam Carnahan participated in a weekly \u201cStrong People\u201d class in Greeley after she scheduled a\u00a0 mammogram that led to a diagnosis of stage 1 breast cancer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Schmalhorst recommended UCHealth surgeon Dr. Stevens Dubs<\/a>. Carnahan brought her husband to meet with Dubs.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy husband went with me because I\u2019m not a question person \u2013 I just don\u2019t ask them,\u201d Carnahan said. \u201cIt was over my head. There was so much information that we had to go back again, and my daughter came with us that time. She probably had 50 questions. But Dr. Dubs was never in a hurry. He gave us the information we needed, and told me he wanted me to see an oncologist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carnahan met with Dr. Farrah Datko<\/a>, UCHealth medical oncologist specializing in breast cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first met Pam, she told me she would not have had a mammogram had it not been for her primary care doctor,\u201d Datko said. \u201cMammograms are so simple. And it just needs to be done.”<\/p>\n

Women can self-schedule their mammogram through My Health Connection<\/a>, UCHealth\u2019s patient portal, or by calling a UCHealth breast imaging location<\/a>. Same day and next-day appointments are available.<\/p>\n

Battling stage 1 breast cancer<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Carnahan had surgery to remove the lump at UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland. Because her cancer was in an early stage, she chose a lumpectomy over a mastectomy.<\/p>\n

A lumpectomy involves the removal of the cancer and some of the surrounding normal tissue, whereas a mastectomy removes the entire breast.<\/p>\n

Dubs also performed a sentinel lymph node biopsy, removing only the lymph nodes under the arm where cancer would likely spread first. Following the lumpectomy, Carnahan required radiation, and she qualified for accelerated radiation treatment, reducing the number of treatment visits to only four weeks. And because another test showed she would not benefit from chemotherapy, she was able to forego that treatment.<\/p>\n

Carnahan had 20 rounds of radiation treatments, which she completed about three months after surgery.<\/p>\n

\u201cRadiation wasn\u2019t as bad as I thought it would be,\u201d she said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to go in there with a certain attitude, which helps. My husband came with me, but I also needed my space and went alone a few times.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the cancer being on the left side near her heart, Carnahan required a highly precise image-guided radiation treatment to limit exposure to the heart. This required her to be calm and keep a low breathing and heart rate during the treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just have to relax yourself and put yourself somewhere else,\u201d she said. \u201cI put myself in sunny places. We\u2019ve been to Hawaii three times, so I put myself on the beach and I had a drink. My son lives in York Beach, Maine, so one time I was there watching the kids play in the ocean. Another time, I was burying my granddaughter up to the neck with sand. Each time I went, I had something different to focus on. You just have to find something sunny and relaxing for yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Living on after stage 1 breast cancer diagnosis<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\":
Pam Carnahan participated in her weekly \u201cStrong People\u201d class in Greeley.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Carnahan will take a pill for as many as 10 years to lower estrogen in her body. Certain breast cancers feed off of estrogen, Datko explained. Studies show that reducing estrogen in the body reduces the risk of cancer recurring.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe starve the cancer of estrogen, and that is very effective,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd that is also the reason why studies have shown women don\u2019t always need chemotherapy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Studies continue to find new methods to fight breast cancer. However, Datko said she continues to get younger and younger patients, again stressing the importance of regular mammograms and considering other cancer-prevention tools, such as genetic testing for high-risk patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel great,\u201d Carnahan said about four months after she finished radiation.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s now been four years. Carnahan continues with her pills, follow-up visits with her oncologist ever six months and annual mammograms.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can see why some women don\u2019t get mammograms. They fear they might find something,\u201d Carnahan said. \u201cBut if you can find that out sooner, there are many options. If you wait, there may not be options. Have it done because it might save your life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why age 40?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There are different guidelines about how frequently a woman should have a mammogram, and that\u2019s why it\u2019s essential to talk about the risks and benefits of the different guidelines with your primary care physician.<\/p>\n

Screenings aren\u2019t recommended for average-risk women until at least 40 because breasts are denser in young women, Datko said. That density makes it harder to see cancer and therefore, not that useful. By 40, a woman\u2019s breast starts to lose that density.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think mammograms should be started once they become useful, which is when the breast becomes less dense,\u201d Datko said. \u201cI know I\u2019ll start getting them myself at 40.\u201d<\/p>\n

Genetic testing and high-risk patients<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Every patient that visits a UCHealth Cancer Care and Hematology<\/a> clinic\u00a0is screened for whether they should be counseled on genetic testing. For patients with certain cancers and a family history of cancer, genetic testing can help physicians tailor treatments and recommend medications, as well as determine if risk-reduction methods, such as removing one\u2019s ovaries to reduce the risk of cancer, is a good option, said Leslie Ross, a genetic counselor at the cancer center.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we do genetic testing, we are seeing if there are any mutations in the genes,\u201d she said. \u201cMutations can be the reason why they have cancer or tell us that they are at higher risk for future cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ross also has helped establish a high-risk breast cancer program, to which anyone can be referred if they have a family history of cancer and want to know what to do. In that program, the patient is evaluated. If high risk for cancer is found, they stay in that program throughout their lives, receiving such things as early or more frequent screenings and counseling on risk-reduction methods available to them.<\/p>\n

Schedule a mammogram<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Once breast cancer spreads beyond the breast and into other areas of the body, called stage 4, it is incurable, Datko explained. If Carnahan had ignored her doctor\u2019s call, she may have very well found herself in that place.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe message here is that you really should be doing these screenings,\u201d Datko said. \u201cPam is a perfect example of how getting a mammogram literally saved her life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schedule a mammogram\u00a0today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This article was first published on Sept. 26, 2018.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pam Carnahan is not a \u201cdoctor person.\u201d \u201cI\u2019m sure there are a lot of people like me,\u201d she said. \u201cMy thought\u2019s always been if you just wait long enough, it will go away \u2014 there\u2019s no need to see a doctor.\u201d When her primary care physician, Dr. Brian Schmalhorst, told her it was time to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2164,"featured_media":18649,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[655,6835,4800,28,4842,3658,49,47,1046,45,351,191,212,23],"class_list":["post-18645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-breast-cancer","tag-breast-cancer-treatment","tag-breast-health-services","tag-cancer-care-oncology","tag-cancer-screening","tag-cancer-support-and-nurse-navigators","tag-cancer-treatment","tag-genetic-testing-and-counseling","tag-health-screening","tag-mammography","tag-primary-care","tag-radiation-oncology","tag-womens-care","tag-womens-health"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow a mammogram can save your life - UCHealth Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The percistancy of Pam's primary care doctor saved her life. 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