Importance of Early Mammogram Screenings in Paducah, KY

Baptist Health Paducah: Importance of Early Mammogram Screenings

The importance of early mammograms is to catch breast cancer before it progresses, especially if you have family history. Learn more about mammogram screenings.

Importance of Early Mammogram Screenings in Paducah, KY HealthTalks Transcript

Tammy Carr, APRN, Women’s Health:
I started in this business a long time ago, and back in those days, we did a baseline mammogram at 35. So I have continued that throughout my whole practice and have found many breast cancers. My daughter was diagnosed in June 2019 with breast cancer. I actually was the one who ordered her mammogram and had to tell her those results. So that was very hard.

Brittany Ramage, patient:
The plan of attack was I had the biopsy that following Monday, had a lumpectomy on that following Friday, and then a course of radiation. I had the BRCA test, and three months to the day, my grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer almost identical to what I had.

Carr:
Every time I see a patient that comes in the office who has family history of breast cancer or colon cancer or any of those kind of cancers, I will talk to them about the genetic screening program we have here at Baptist. We all three got a comprehensive genetic test, and we all three have CHEK2 in our blood, which is another thing that can cause breast cancer. If you have a positive gene, you can increase your testing, you can do a mammogram, and then MRI every six months, so you’re alternating back and forth between the two.

Ramage:
If I hadn’t done a mammogram, we would have never known. I probably would have found a lump and then it would have been a lot more serious than it was.

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