Mammograms: An Essential Screening Tool

Join Lee Health Coconut Point for National Mammography Day

It is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Friday, Oct. 18, is National Mammography Day, which are great opportunities for us to remind you that early detection with mammography saves lives. These noninvasive X-ray screenings of the breast are used to find abnormalities or cancer, even before it can be felt.

Screening mammograms are recommended every year for all women starting at age 40. However, to ensure women are screened appropriately according to their risk, the American College of Radiology (ACR) urges women at higher risk for breast cancer, especially Black and Ashkenazi Jewish women, to talk to their doctor or healthcare clinician about their risk by the age of 25 so they can determine if screening earlier than 40 is needed. The factors that may increase your breast cancer risk include:

• Genetic mutations, including BRCA 1 and BRCA 2.
• Starting menstrual periods before the age of 12 and starting menopause after the age of 55. Extended exposure to hormones raises the risk of breast cancer.
• Having dense breasts can make it hard to see tumors on a mammogram.
• Having breast cancer once increases the risk of getting it a second time.
• Having a family history, especially if a mother, sister or daughter (first-degree relative), or multiple family members on the mother or father’s side of the family have had breast cancer.

In honor of National Mammography Day on Friday, Oct. 18, Lee Health Coconut Point is hosting a special event. You are welcome and encouraged to schedule your mammogram. This day of care and education also includes chair massages, an essential oil make-and-take activity and samples from the Lee Health Demonstration Kitchen. You can also meet with a nurse navigator from the Lee Health Cancer Institute. For more information and to schedule your appointment, go to www.tinyurl.com/LHMammogram.

If you can’t make it to Lee Health Coconut Point on Friday, Oct. 18, and you are an established Lee Health patient with access to MyChart, you can schedule your mammogram for a time or location that works for you. We have Breast Health Centers at the Outpatient Center at HealthPark Commons and the Sanctuary in Fort Myers, the Outpatient Center at Surfside in Cape Coral and University Highlands in Estero. If you are new to Lee Health, I encourage you to check out our website, www.LeeHealth.org, and enter “mammography” in the search box. From our website, you can learn more about the screening and how to make an appointment.

Early detection of breast cancer allows time to consider surgery and treatment alternatives, and finding breast cancer early means a 98% survival rate. Mammograms are essential, lifesaving screening tools—schedule yours today.

It is important to note, too, that if you or a loved one is diagnosed with breast cancer, the Lee Health Cancer Institute has a full team of cancer specialists who care for and support you throughout your journey. The Lee Health Cancer Institute also holds nationally recognized accreditations from the Commission on Cancer and the National Accreditation Program for Breast Cancers.