New mobile unit to screen a variety
of cancers
by Molly
HulettSpecial to The Catalyst
Last August, Pamala Reese decided she had let too many years slip by between mammograms. At age 46, this busy machine operator and mother of two grown sons said her personal medical history, paired with a powerful prescience, nudged her to take charge of her health.
Pamela Reese with
the new digital mammography machine mounted in the van.Reese received a mammogram on Hollings Cancer Center’s mobile health unit, a medically equipped 40-foot recreational vehicle that stops at her health center in North Charleston. Her mammogram triggered a need for a biopsy. When the health center called to schedule an appointment to discuss the biopsy results, dread seeped in as she realized something was wrong.
Reese initially submerged herself in denial when she learned she had breast cancer. The denial quickly turned into fear. “At first, it was a death-defying situation to me,” she said, recalling the paralyzing sensation of hearing the diagnosis and trying to comprehend a blur of words across a page. “It was like someone had just given me a death sentence.”
Because Reese needed immediate follow-up care, she became part of HCC’s Avon Breast Health Patient Navigation Program, which helps uninsured, low income and underserved women with breast cancer receive timely, thorough and top-quality treatment. Patient navigators guide women through the complex health care system, assisting with a vast range of issues, including completing financial paperwork, arranging reliable transportation and appointments, and providing emotional reassurance.
HCC director Dr.
Andrew Kraft greets visitors as they tour the new Hollings Cancer
Center's mobile health unit April 6. It is medically-equipped to detect
a variety of cancers such as breast, cervical, skin, oral and prostate.The mobile health unit and the patient navigation program work in tandem to provide the best outcomes for women. Patient navigator Silvia Martin stood by Reese in the ensuing weeks as she had an additional biopsy, appointments with breast specialists and surgeons, and successful breast-sparing surgery to remove the cancer, which was in its early stages.
“Silvia and the others took care of everything,” said Reese, exuding gratitude for the warmth and breadth of care. “They were like my family. I didn’t have to worry about anything. They made my burden much lighter.”
Now on long-term medication to help prevent the recurrence of disease, Reese credits her deep faith, dedicated doctors and supportive family for her recovery.
“I feel truly blessed to be here,” she said, expressing relief that a recent check-up revealed a clear mammogram. “It turned out not to be as bad as I thought it would be. If I had not gotten that mammogram when I did, I don’t know what would have happened. Now, I always urge other women to get their mammograms. It’s so important to find out what is going on in your body.”
Reducing cancer disparities
Since 1998, Hollings Cancer Center’s mobile health unit has served as a medical office on wheels for thousands of adults like Reese, extending the center’s comprehensive care into 12 rural Lowcountry counties. Initially offering screenings for breast, cervical and skin cancers, the mobile unit program has expanded to also include screenings for prostate, colorectal and mouth cancers. Additionally, patients receive appropriate educational materials and guidance for key health strategies such as self-screening, nutrition and exercise, and tobacco cessation.
This month, HCC launched a new mobile unit that includes a mammography room, exam room, lab, and dedicated space for counseling and waiting. The unit is equipped with the latest technology in digital mammography, which is one of the best imaging techniques for the early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer.
Through generous support from organizations like Nissan North America, Wachovia and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation—as well as various departments throughout MUSC—the mobile health unit offers a caring, consistent health care home for medically underserved adults who have difficulties accessing health care and who are at risk for developing cancer.
“Hollings Cancer Center is committed to eliminating racial, economic and geographic disparities in cancer prevention and treatment throughout the state,” said Andrew Kraft, M.D., HCC’s director. “The mobile health unit helps broaden our mission to encompass communities that need it most.”
The mobile health program partners with federally- funded community health centers and DHEC clinics to become a part of patients’ routine medical care. From 2004 to 2006, more than 4,000 people were screened on the unit—many of whom might never have otherwise received this type of care. For example, survey results demonstrate that 40 percent of women receiving breast cancer screenings on the unit had never had a mammogram or had infrequent mammograms. These same women reported that they would not get a mammogram if the mobile unit did not come to their community.
Brenda Nickerson, R.N., HCC’s administrator for Cancer Prevention and Control Research and Outreach, said the mobile health unit assists many women in the Best Chance Network, which helps screen South Carolina women within certain age and income parameters for breast and cervical cancers.
“Because the community health centers in the network don’t have mammography, it might take a woman a couple of months to get a mammogram after her clinical screening,” she explained. “Now, we work
Friday, April 20, 2007
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