Getting a mammogram is important to help catch cancer early!

Most of us probably know someone either directly or indirectly that has suffered from cancer, it is a silent killer, but thankfully in some cases if it is caught earlier enough it can be treated and many have been lucky enough to beat cancer completely. I recently attended a small "Mom's Day Out" event hosted by SimonMed Imaging that focused on women's health. Did you know one 1 out of every 8 women will likely develop breast cancer at some point in her lifetime? however if caught early it will greatly improve chances of survival.

We all generally lead busy lives, between work, family and finding some time to ourselves many aren't able to take an hour or two out of their day to head to their doctors office to get a mammogram. Did you know you don't have to go down to your doctors office and sit in the waiting room and exam room to get your mammogram? Instead you can visit MOM which is the Mobile On-site Mammography bus by SimonMed Imaging. This bus parks at various business locations such as office buildings, malls and more and offers quick and easy mammograms that take 15 minutes or less! I do not recall if it was the same bus, but where I work has actually had a bus like this come to park to allow the employees access to it, which makes getting a mammogram pretty convenient. During the event we had the pleasure of hearing Clare Colombo M.D who is a breast radiologist who works for SimonMed Imaging speak about mammograms the the MOM bus.

Who should get a mammogram? At one point all women should go in for a mammogram, they generally recommend getting your first at age 40. There is an exception to this and that is the "10 year rule", if you have a direct family member such as a aunt, sister, grandmother, etc take the age they got breast cancer into an account and subtract ten years from it. For example if your aunt was diagnosed with cancer at age 42, you should get one done at age 32 to be safe. This rule does not apply for anyone who was diagnosed with cancer in their 20's, as they do not perform mammograms on teenagers. The MOM bus uses 3D imaging to take four quick scans of your chest which are done right inside of the bus. We were given the chance to take a peek inside of the bus, it is quite comfortable it has plenty of seating, a private room for changing, a office area for the staff member, the screening room, and a small bathroom/kitchen area for the staff. The Hologic 3D mammography they use is FDA approved, the exams help reduce callbacks by up to 40%.

Once the imaging is completed you will receive results in about two weeks, if they call you for a call back there is no need to worry! Many times they just want to take a better look at something they are unsure of, some breast have more fat cells than others, and some have more tissues/glands that all look different on the scans so from time to time they might need a better angle on a image to see everything. Those with "dense" breast that are made up of mostly glands should get at least one ultrasound as well for the best results. After your first mammogram they recommend getting one done once a year to keep up on everything.

It is highly recommended that you do a monthly self check whether you are close to the mammogram age or not just to keep an extra eye out for any irregular changes. If you are in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area or the surrounding areas and want to schedule an appointment/find the closest event near you visit the  Mobile On-site Mammography website or call Catherine Midgette at 480-428-5877.

During this event we were also able to hear two other speakers who present information on different aspects of women's health. The first was Lorina Kormos from Derma Health & Lasers, who spoke about different skin treatments, laser hair removals and more. The second was Debra Wickman M.D who is a board certified gynecologist who specializes in sexual health and menopause. Both provided quite a bit of information on their topics and were pleasant to hear speak. Attendees were also given a nice little swag bag by some local sponsors to celebrate Mom!

Disclaimer- I was provided a ticket to the event and the swag bag shown above in exchange for sharing information from the event on women's health. No other product compensation was provided. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. This event was hosted at Copper Blues Live located inside Desert Ridge Marketplace in Phoenix,AZ.