Breast Cancer Awareness

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THE NEWS SUN

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BREAST CANCER AWARENESS

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OCTOBER 15, 2016

Breast cancer care available locally

BY JENNIFER DECKER jdecker@kpcmedia.com 102 N. Main Street, Kendallville, IN 46755 (260) 347-0400

Terry G. Housholder thousholder@kpcmedia.com President/Publisher

Randy Mitchell randymitchell@kpcmedia.com Chief Executive Officer

S. Rick Mitchell rickmitchell@kpcmedia.com Chief Financial Officer

Joy Newman jnewman@kpcmedia.com Advertising Director

Ann Saggars asaggars@kpcmedia.com Creative Manager

Tracey Robideau trobideau@kpcmedia.com Special Sections Graphic Designer

Mike Marturello mmarturello@kpcmedia.com Special Sections Editor

Mark Murdock mmurdock@kpcmedia.com Reporter

Amy Oberlin aoberlin@kpcmedia.com Reporter

Mariah Miller mmiller@kpcmedia.com Reporter

Jennifer Decker jdecker@kpcmedia.com Reporter

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Jenny Ernsberger Cindy Miller Michele Trowbridge Johnathon Anderson Jeff Jones Breast Cancer Awareness is a special supplement to the The Star, The Herald Republican and The News Sun which are publications of KPC Media Group Inc. ©2016 All rights reserved

October is pink for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

There’s no blushing about the second most common cancer among American women after skin cancer.

Healthcare providers say regular breast cancer screening and early detection is the key. The disease is a reality, since a woman’s chance of developing breast cancer is 1 in 8, while the chance a woman will die from breast cancer is 1 in 35.

Numerous local resources are available.

Cameron Memorial Community Hospital Cameron operates the Regional Cancer Care Center of Angola, 516 E. Maumee St., Angola. There, it offers traditional cancer treatments.

“The local cancer center offers radiation and chemotherapy which is huge — you don’t have to leave Angola,” said Laura Lutterbeck, Cameron executive director community relations. She added it’s convenient, so patients don’t have to travel far, especially when ill with cancer.

The center also offers additional services to resources such as wigs, transportation, medication, financial and insurance assistance.

Cameron offers breast cancer diagnostic testing with mammograms and MRIs in partnership with Parkview Health.

In addition to mammography, Cameron offers patients care with a SenoClaire 3D mammography. It’s a 3D mammography option, Lutterbeck said. Studies show 3D mammography can detect up to 40 percent more cancer than traditional methods, she said.

As part of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Cameron will offer free breast cancer screenings and mammograms Friday, Oct. 21 and Saturday, Oct. 22, at the hospital, 416 E. Maumee St., Angola. The screenings are for uninsured and under insured women with age and income guidelines. Appointments are needed by calling 667-5128.

Screenings take about 30 minutes and results are sent to the patient’s family physician. Free mammograms are funded by the Indiana Breast Cancer Awareness Trust.

For more details on the Cancer Center or Cameron, visit cameronmch.com or call 624-2120 or 665-2141.

AUBURN — Funding is now available to help residents of DeKalb County with the expense of mammograms and/or their breast cancer journey.

This year, DeKalb Health partnered with Tri Kappa Sorority of Auburn and Pink Out DeKalb County to help provide support of the Tri Kappa PINK Out DeKalb County Fund.

This fund is available to any DeKalb County resident in need of any financial medical assistance with their

mammogram and/or breast cancer journey.

An application is available at area local hospitals including DeKalb Health, the DeKalb County Community Foundation and the Tri Kappa of Auburn website trikappaauburn.org.

Donations to the fund are accepted at any time.

Source: Terri Christiansen, DeKalb Health marketing.

and will open its new Parkview Cancer Institute, 1141 Parkveiw Plaza Drive, Fort Paula Amstutz, DeKalb Health Imaging Wayne, in 2018.

Center director of imaging, said early The institute will eventually replace the detection is the key toward treatment. current Parkview Comprehensive Cancer “The importance of screening Center. mammograms cannot be re-inforced “Once this facility is complete, we enough. Monthly self-breast-exams and anticipate hiring at least 10 new cancer annual physicals with your physician care physicians,” said Jessica Miller, are also important and can aid in early Parkview public relations manager. The detection of breast cancer,” she said. institute will offer more access to specialDeKalb offers various services through ized care and physicians with “the latest the Women’s Imaging Suite, part of the treatments, including bio therapy, robotic DeKalb Health Imaging Center in Auburn. surgery using the da Vinci surgical Terri Christiansen, DeKalb Health system and the region’s only CyberKnife, marketing and public information officer, a painless, noninvasive technology that said plenty of options are available. delivers targeted radiation to difficult-to“DeKalb Health breast imaging reach areas of the body.” technology includes digital mammogIn addition to specialized treatments raphy, ultrasound and breast MRI. We including radiation oncology, medical are staffed by licensed professionals to oncology, surgery, targeted therapy and perform exams and radiologists to provide biological therapy, the center will offer you and your physician with results and participation in national research studies recommendations,” Christiansen said. and genetic testing. Help will be available “We are accredited by the Federal Drug to patients to coordinate appointments Administration and American College of with specialists and access resources such Radiology.” as nutrition counseling, support groups, In a related note, Dr. J. DeCamp with financial planning assistance and home Summit Radiology said men can experihealth/hospice services. ence breast cancer. Less than 1 percent Parkview’s not waiting for its new of breast cancers occur in men, but like cancer institute that will offer much more women, they should also look for lumps, specialized care. The current center offers DeCamp said. numerous services through the Parkview “Men are not routinely screened Comprehensive Cancer Center. Its focus for breast cancer. The exception to is making mammograms available to this would be if the man has a family all women through a partnership with member who tested positive for the breast Francine’s Friends and the Breast cancer gene. Some physicians advocate Diagnostic Center. annual screening mammograms for such To schedule a mammogram at patients,” DeCamp said.

Parkview hospitals in Noble, LaGrange, To learn more about breast health and Whitley or Huntington counties, call imaging services at DeKalb Health, call 877-225-5747.

920.2513 or visit DeKalbHealth.com.

For a comprehensive information on breast cancer services Parkview offers, Parkview Health visit parkview.com.

Parkview Health is looking ahead

DeKalb Health

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BREAST CANCER

FACT

In 2016, it is estimated that among U.S. women there will be: 246,660 new cases of invasive breast cancer and 40,450 breast cancer deaths

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OCTOBER 15, 2016

October is all about PINK! Celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness month with a free mammogram for uninsured or underinsured women.

Friday, October 21 and Saturday, October 22, 2016 You must have an appointment to participate. *Age and income guidelines apply

(260) 667-5128 Generously grant funded by:

HOPE

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Twice bitten by breast cancer, but twice victorious for Bellinger

BY STEVE GARBACZ sgarbacz@kpcmedia.com

AUBURN — The first time around, the breast cancer diagnosis made Shellie Bellinger angry. The second time was more like insult to injury.

On her right arm, she wears a pink compression sleeve to help with arm pain and fluid from the lymph nodes she lost when she had her right-side mastectomy. Her brown hair has streaks of grey in it now after she stopped coloring it, not sure whether the chemicals from the dyes might have played some part in her developing cancer.

She jokes as she recalls how hugs are kind of awkward nowadays when people press up against her “foob,” the fake boob she got during reconstruction surgery.

She wasn’t too young to develop breast cancer, it turns out. That’s what a doctor told her, which, looking back, was exceptionally bad and dangerous advice.

After two rounds, Bellinger, 50, is 2-0 in the fight against invasive ductile carcinoma.

Doctors caught her tumors earlier enough both times that she didn’t have to face a grueling chemo regimen.

Still, she’s got a couple scars, a couple stories and a new set of priorities in life.

Not too young, after all Shortly after her father died of pancreatic cancer, Bellinger found a small lump in her right breast.

She wasn’t 40 yet, the year when it’s generally recommended that women start to get regular mammograms. She went to her doctor, but he didn’t seem too concerned at the time.

“Went to my local doctor just to have a checkup and he told me I was too young to worry about lumps in my breast,” she said.

She waited two years, until she had a problem with an unrelated lump that was growing in her cheek. During a visit to her gynecologist in Fort Wayne, her checkup quickly turned into a whirlwind of tests including a mammogram and a biopsy.

When she sat down with her doctor on April 13, 2007 — Friday the 13th, she notes — she was expecting to get the news the doctor delivered.

“Luckily it was not a fast-growing cancer or I would be dead. Mine is basically considered a medium-grade, not a fast but not a slow growing kind, the easier kind to treat,” she said.

Maybe the lump years earlier wasn’t cancer, but by the time doctors did find it, it was still in a very early stage. Because of that, she wouldn’t need chemo and could get through it with surgery, radiation treatments and medicine.

The tumor was small and tucked under her arm. She went through genetic testing

to see if she had the mutated BRCA 1 and 2 genes, which would mean a significantly increased risk of cancer in the future, but didn’t have either. She was still young, she figured, so didn’t want to go through a majorly invasive surgery, so she opted for a lumpectomy to remove the cancerous tissue.

“Your mind just starts spinning and it immediately brings out anger issues. I was mad, just mad at the world at first. Then you come to terms with it, you deal with it and you have surgery and try to move on and try to live your best you can and cleanest you can,” she said.

She had her surgery in May followed by three months of radiation treatments and was cleared Aug. 15, 2007. After that, she started a five-year regimen of tamoxifen, a drug used to treat and prevent breast cancer. “(Radiation) was like you were being poisoned. I felt tired all the time and felt like I had the flu all the time,” Bellinger said. “It took just a first six months after treatment to just feel normal. And then they give you the medication that has all the side effects; that makes you tired, bone pain, anxiety issues and the other side effects it can cause other cancers too.”

She had lousy health insurance at the time that covered two doctor visits, $300 worth of labs and they radiation treatments but little else. The treatment plunged her family $25,000 into debt.

“I could have bought a brand new car,” she said.

When she finished her fifth year of Tamoxifen, there were no signs of the cancer coming back. She went off the drug in 2012 and was ready to move on from her early-inlife fight with breast cancer.

Cancer changed her priorities Compared to some women, Bellinger counts herself lucky that she didn’t have an aggressive strain of cancer or that it wasn’t caught until it was late-stage.

Still, a brush with mortality helped her realize that there wasn’t time to waste.

At the time, she was kind of a typical mom. Her kids were in elementary school.

She was working daily with her husband at their Auburn auto shop. With day-to-day life in the way, her sense of adventure and passion for art would put on hold for a time.

And then breast cancer happened, and waiting until later in life seemed to make much less sense.

“It makes you more humble. I guess it resets all your priorities in life too,” she said.

“I didn’t really do much artwork when my kids were growing up and I thought I’d wait til they grew up. Now I’ve done all the art projects we’ve had in downtown Auburn.

I’ve been involved in all those. The bicentennial bison, which just won second place

at the state fair contest, I was the project leader on that. I’ve got a gallery studio space uptown.”

“It really kind of opens yours eyes as what’s important,” she said.

She also tried to go through a cleansing process to try to remove chemicals from her daily life. Working in an automotive shop, working with paints and art supplies, dyeing her hair and eating processed foods, she worked to improve her overall health.

After finishing treatment in 2012, things were looking good. She cleared her checkup in 2013 with no trouble.

But the clean bill of health didn’t last long.

A slap in the face She had expected the cancer diagnosis the first time around, but the second diagnosis was a surprise.

It was the same type of cancer, growing a little faster than the first time and in a different quadrant of her right breast this time. On Sept. 23, 2014, the first day of the DeKalb County Free Fall Fair, she got a phone call with the diagnosis.

“That second time around it was kind of a slap in the face. You just kind of gather yourself and you’ve got to pull yourself together and get it done,” Bellinger said.

Like the first time, the cancer was caught earlier enough that she had options. But this time, after having two cancers in the same breast, she opted to have a mastectomy.

She considered a double, decided only to have the troublesome right breast removed and reconstructed. Even still, Bellinger said it’s a heavy decision to willingly choose to remove a physical part of your body.

“It’s an emotional roller coaster,” she said. “It’s not easy and it’s still hard to accept because it’s still a foreign object, especially when you go to hug people. It’s like there’s something there, it’s not all soft and squishy any more. Now it’s just decorations.”

Since the first cancer diagnosis, she had changed insurance to a plan from the Affordable Care Act marketplace and had much better coverage. Even though she had a series of more involved surgeries including mastectomy, reconstruction and a preventative hysterectomy, the total treatment only totaled about $4,000 out-of-pocket.

She’s cancer free again, although now she has chronic trouble with her right arm due to the loss of the lymph nodes that were removed. She has to wear a compression sleeve daily to help keep fluid moving to relieve tightness and pain.

Never too early to guard against cancer The threat of cancer is never really gone,

STEVE GARBACZ

Shellie Bellinger of Auburn developed invasive ductile carcinoma breast cancer in her right breast in 2007 and 2014, but was able to catch it early both times and beat it. After being told she was too young to worry about breast lumps, she now advises other women not to take anything for granted with their health.

for Bellinger or for anyone.

She admits she’s irritated by how cancer can strike anyone, young or old, healthy or not, with little to no warning. Bellinger knows there’s always a chance that breast cancer will come back a third time, especially since she decided to keep her left breast.

She tries not to think about it and is continuing to focus on the good parts of her life and pursuing the things she’s always wanted to do, including her art.

“You’ve always got that in the back of your mind. It’s never really out of your mind. You try to distract yourself. You’ll drive yourself crazy if you think about it all the time. I don’t know how the ladies with metastatic breast cancer do it, knowing you’re never cured,” she said.

Her advice to other women is to never ignore something unusual, no matter how young you are or how little at-risk you think you are.

Many times it won’t be anything, she said.

Bellinger herself has gone through multiple scares, including three benign fatty tumors as well as harmless cysts that formed in her left breast.

“Go have it checked out just for the peace of mind. Don’t freak out until you find out for sure, Bellinger said. “If you feel a lump and it’s been there for longer than three months, catch it early.”

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BREAST CANCER

FACT

On average, every 2 minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer and 1 woman will die of breast cancer every 13 minutes. http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/what-is-breast-cancer

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BREAST CANCER

FACT

Breast cancer incidence rates are highest in non-Hispanic white women, followed by African American women and are lowest among Asian/Pacific Islander women. In contrast, breast cancer death rates are highest for African American women, followed by non-Hispanic white women.

Breast cancer death rates are lowest for Asian/Pacific Islander women.

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BREAST CANCER

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About 5% to 10% of breast cancer cases are thought to be hereditary, meaning that they result directly from gene defects (called mutations) passed on from a parent.

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BREAST CANCER

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Having a first-degree relative (mother, sister, or daughter) with breast cancer almost doubles a woman’s risk.

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FACT

The warning signs of breast cancer are not the same for all women. The most common signs are a change in the look or feel of the breast, a change in the look or feel of the nipple and nipple discharge.

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BREAST CANCER

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Women who have close blood relatives with breast cancer have a higher risk of the disease.

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Women with a father or brother who have had breast cancer also have a higher risk of breast cancer.

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OCTOBER 15, 2016

Life still great after cancer bout

BY AMY OBERLIN aoberlin@kpcmedia.com

“I look and my dad was there,” said Wheeler. “My mom took me down.”

While the doctors worked that day, they found a mass in the right breast. It was malignant.

“Christmas was terrible,” said Wheeler.

ANGOLA — Amy Wheeler is a hard-working, fun-loving single mother.

She lives life to its fullest and can talk candidly about her brushes with breast cancer.

Amy — the They were troopers about mother of The scare twin daughters it, but the second time On Christmas Elizabeth and Day 2011, Wheeler they were scared,” said Maria and son, started the Impact Matt — withstood Wheeler. “I tried to keep a Zone at amysimpactan unusual and zone.blogspot.com. brave face about it.” traumatizing It opens like experience. this: “On the same First diagnosed — Amy Wheeler day that my cancer with breast cancer battle was to be in April 2011, pretty much over, I Wheeler got a was wrong. In my fearful surprise anesthesia haze, my plastic surgeon later that year when a lump was found tearfully told me that he found a marblein her other breast during a cosmetic sized lump on my ‘previously known-as operation. After a second surgery, good’ breast.

Wheeler now has a clean bill of health, “What? I signed up for my first half and in November will go her last twice-a-year oncology visit in Indianap- marathon in May in Toronto, planned to go snowboarding in Whistler in early olis.

March, visit friends out in L.A. in late March, and planned a big girls trip to The mammogram Vegas in August! I have no time for When she was 37 years old, Wheeler more cancer! This was my big, fun did a baseline mammogram at a doctor’s year!” suggestion.

Wheeler wasn’t in pain or sick — she At 40 years old, in December of was scared. The Impact Zone, named for 2010, her gynecologist suggested she get a term used in the movie “Soul Surfer,” another. She agreed, but months slipped was a way to candidly share her experiby before she remembered to schedule ence. A member of the congregation at the appointment at Cameron Memorial St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, Community Hospital in April. she leaned on her faith, her friends and The results showed an abnormality. family. She reassured her children.

A radiologist ordered a biopsy on her “They were troopers about it, but left side and within a couple of weeks, the second time they were scared,” said Wheeler learned she was in the early Wheeler. “I tried to keep a brave face stages of breast cancer. about it.”

Her family doctor suggested a Doctors said her condition was very double mastectomy. She spoke to other rare — bilateral cancer, appearing professionals about the various options, separately but at the same time in two including a lumpectomy, and decided different breasts. The 2-centimeter lump on a single mastectomy, which includes in her right breast was not related to the removal of the sentinel node in the or spread from the malignancy found armpit to determine if the cancer had several months earlier in the left breast. spread.

“I was anxious to get it done,” said Second round Wheeler of the July 2011 operation.

Despite the shock of her second Every day she waited seemed like one diagnosis, Wheeler again did her day too many, she said. homework and got second opinions.

The surgery went well and with a Her second mastectomy occurred clean bill of health, Wheeler was set for Jan. 31, 2012. Tests of her sentinel node plastic surgery to rebuild her feminine showed no spread of the cancer and she figure. She went under the anaesthetic continued her blog through pain and Dec. 21 and expected to awake with an bleariness from her medication. implant on her left side.

“

PHOTO CONTRIBUTED

Amy Smith Wheeler stands with her children Matthew, Elizabeth and Marie this spring.

“It’s Super Bowl Sunday and normally I’d be conjuring up dips and platters and all kinds of yummy treats for the big game. This is no ordinary Super Bowl Sunday,” Wheeler wrote on Feb. 5, 2012. “I’m still a little nauseous and tired and sore from Tuesday’s surgery. Although I feel a little better in terms of pain, I’m not nearly ready to be weened off the pain meds quite yet.”

She extolled her friends from St. Mary’s College, who pooled funds for a year’s worth of house-cleaning service, the congregation at St. Anthony, her mother and the many others that were at her side through her ordeal.

The tumor was found to be negative for the human epidermal growth factor receptor — HER2 — and a DNA marker test found her to be genetically extremely unlikely to redevelop cancer.

Following her second surgery and some

issues with her doctors, Wheeler visited the Indiana University Simon Cancer Center in Indianapolis — one of the best cancer centers in the U.S. Because of the early stage of Wheeler’s cancer and a great pathology report, her new oncologist said no chemotherapy was needed and recommended Wheeler stay on Tamoxifen for five years. Tamoxifen is an estrogen blocker used to prevent and treat breast cancer.

With a new feeling of relief and an eye on the future, in May 2012, Wheeler’s second implant was completed. Over the past several years, there have been a couple of cosmetic revisions, but no health consequences.

Life is back to normal.

While Wheeler admitted her brush with cancer is always in the back of her mind, she said, “You just have to go with the flow.”

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OCTOBER 15, 2016

BREAST CANCER AWARENESS

BREAST CANCER

FACT

As you get older, your risk of breast cancer goes up. Most invasive breast cancers (those that have spread from where they started) are found in women age 55 and older.

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Breast cancer is diagnosed during a physical exam, by self-examination of the breasts, mammography, ultrasound testing, and biopsy.

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BREAST CANCER

FACT

Although breast cancer in men is rare, an estimated 2,600 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and approximately 440 will die each year. http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/what-is-breast-cancer

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Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women. http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/what-is-breast-cancer

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Woman urges being proactive in dealing with breast cancer

BY PATRICK REDMOND predmond@kpcmedia.com

diagnosed with cancer, aunts, uncles, great-aunts, great uncles — back three LAGRANGE — For most of her adult generations into a family tree. We want life, LaGrange County’s Sally Hall has to know who all had cancer, what kind felt like cancer was stalking her, always of cancer and how old they were. We lurking somewhere in the shadows, just want to look at the overall risk.” waiting to pounce.

Brandenberger said for about half of She had good reason to be concerned. her patients, Hall comes from those tests a family with a alleviate their serious history fears, while of cancer. When It’s very important people get the rest point Hall was a child, to a need for yearly mammograms and do her mother was additional diagnosed with testing. The those monthly self-checks breast cancer, next test is a because the earlier you can having barely lab analysis turned 40. Then catch it the better. Even if you involving later, two of a blood or siblings, an don’t have a family history, it can saliva sample. older brother It takes about start with anybody. You don’t three weeks and sister, each died of cancer to complete. before either had have to have the gene mutation, Most testing, reached their it can be just a random act and Branden40th birthdays. berger said, bingo, you’re next.

And finally, a is covered second sister by health — Sally Hall battled breast insurance. cancer twice.

The test “I do not have take a close a personal cancer look at particstory. What I did ular genes I have a family found in every history of breast cancer,” Hall said. human body.

So Hall, a mammography tech at “What we’re doing is looking at very Parkview LaGrange, decided to fight specific genes. Genes are our instruccancer head on. That started with a tion manual that tells our bodies how simple look at her family history and a to develop and grow,” she said. “So the genetic test. genes that we’re interested in looking Genetic testing looks for specific at in genetic testing are really the genes inherited changes called mutations in that are our protection against cancer. a person’s chromosomes and genes.

So we do testing to see I there are any Mutations that are harmful may increase changes in these cancer fighters that a person’s chance, or risk, of developing knocks it out or makes it not function for a disease such as cancer. that person. So really, we’re hunting for Sarah Brandenberger, a genetic a predisposition. And usually, those run counselor with the Parkview Health in families.”

System, said a visit to her office is For Hall, the news was exactly what not always bad news. Brandenberger she had expected. Her test said she was is a certified genetic counselor board likely to develop cancer. certified and trained.

“They said I had a particularly high “People come in terrified and when risk of developing breast cancer,” she I look at their family tree, a lot of time, said. we can reassure them,” she said.

At this point, patients and their Brandenberger’s first step in physicians have several options. Most understanding a patient’s cancer risk is commonly, patients are told to particaccomplished by taking an in-depth look ipate in annual screenings and other into that patient’s family history, a paper preventative measures. If cancer does examination that’s more inclusive than develop, early detection is the first step someone is likely to receive at a doctor’s toward a solution. office.

Hall was just in her late 30s when she “We’ll take a look at the family underwent genetic testing. history, we’ll ask who in the family was “I knew it was just a matter of time,

“

PATRICK REDMOND

Testing indicated Sally Hall, LaGrange, had a 90 percent chance of developing breast cancer so she decided to have a bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction.

I was next,” Hall said. “My mom had it, my sister had it, I had two siblings pass away. I think I had the number 37 in the back of my head because that’s when my brother and sister were both diagnosed with cancer, so mentally I was prepared to get it done and do something by age 37.”

After consulting with physicians and specialist, Sally Hall decided to be proactive. A wife and mother of two children, she talked with a doctor about the odds she would get to see her children grow up and have children of their own. With her family history in mind, especially her two siblings that died young, Hall opted to have a bilateral mastectomy with reconstructive surgery.

“My results came back as having a significant change of developing breast cancer myself. So what I chose to do, because you can go at it a couple of different ways — you can go at it conservatively, get your mammograms yearly, you can even have a breast MRI and do that every other year. But knowing my family history already, and I wanted to be proactive about helping my family — I wanted to be here for

my family. I did the bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction. They told me I reduced my risk of cancer by 90 percent,” she said.

Hall said she understands her decision to undergo surgery may not be the right decision for everyone with a family history of breast cancer.

“It is a very big decision. It’s a choice that I wanted to make, but I know it might not be someone else’s choice,” she said. “I had family backing, I had physician backing. We had two ugly cancers in my brother and sister and both died before they were 40.”

Hall added that she has no regrets about her decision, and stressed cancer prevention is something everyone needs to consider.

“I just wanted to keep being proactive about my health, that way I can say I did the best I could,” she said. “It’s very important people get yearly mammograms and do those monthly self-checks because the earlier you can catch it the better. Even if you don’t have a family history, it can start with anybody. You don’t have to have the gene mutation, it can be just a random act and bingo, you’re next.”

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Over 2.8 million breast cancer survivors are alive in the United States today. http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/what-is-breast-cancer

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Community Health Center of Branch County Mammography may miss up to 1/3 of cancer in dense breasts. Learn your screening options. There are different tests for different breasts.

With 3D ultrasound volumes and ABUS software, radiologists can look through hundreds of breast tissue image “slices,” looking at layers of dense tissue to find breast cancers which may have been missed on a mammogram.

Ultrasound has shown that it can increase breast cancer detection when added to mammography. However, traditional hand-held ultrasound has inherent issues that do not make it well suited for screening. The GE Healthcare, PMA-approved Invenia™ ABUS creates reproducible, wide field-of-view volumes in a time efficient manner, thus well-suited for a screening workflow.

Community Health Center of Branch County 274 East Chicago Street • Coldwater MI 49036 517-279-5400 • chcbc.com

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Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women.

http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/what-is-breast-cancer

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BREAST CANCER

FACT

The 5-year survival rate tells you what percent of people live at least 5 years after the cancer is found. Percent means how many out of 100. The average 5-year survival rate for people with breast cancer is 89%. The 10-year rate is 83%, and the 15-year rate is 78%.

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