Northwest Houston Doctors Encourage Annual Breast Cancer Screening For Women Beginning At 40

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Since then, Kimble has undergone three important stages of treatment when undergoing chemotherapy, surgery, and is about to finish radiation therapy at Woodlands Hospital, the final day of St. Luke’s Health.

Despite the fact that this type of cancer is growing rapidly, Kimble is cancer-free as of June and is within 5 shots of radiation therapy.

“It was a little scary, maybe the size of a pearl,” Kimble said. “So I asked the doctor, why could I have missed this … I had the last mammogram and wasn’t there, so I couldn’t get better than a year or more did.”

Kimble was initially told that the cancer was in stage 3, but when he asked for a second opinion at Woodlands, he found that it was really just stage 2. She said there was no surprise in the announcement.

“I didn’t cry, it seemed okay, which cancer?” Kimble said. “My father died of cancer in the pancreas, so my brother died of cancer two weeks ago, and I have two sisters who died of cancer.”

Kimble initially rebelled against treatment. She said she had already seen what had happened to her brother and didn’t want to have the same experience, so she thought it was time to go.

However, Dr. Angela Kosio told Kimble that the results obtained from drugs used to treat this type of cancer had promising results. Kimble’s chemotherapy began on January 9, and by early March she said no lumps were found.

Coscio is a breast oncology scholar and director of oncology at CHI St. Luke’s Health-The Woodlands for the Houston suburban market location for Springwoods Village and The Vintage. The major cancer centers and breast oncologists are based at the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center in The Woodlands.

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According to Coscio, a general recommendation is to screen women over the age of 40 on a mammogram annually. She said that more than 10 percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer are under the age of 45 and women should start at the age of 40 unless there is a reason not to be screened.

“over 20”

Coscio states that there is no recommended age limit when someone should stop screening, and people who are healthy enough to have breast cancer surgery are generally offered the opportunity to be screened if found. He added that it should be.

She said there are several groups of women who should not delay screening, such as those with a history of breast cancer or those at high risk of breast cancer due to genetics. She said there are several breast cancer risk assessments that can tell patients what the lifetime risk of breast cancer is.

“People with a lifetime risk of breast cancer of 20% or more need to be screened on time each year,” says Coscio. “Beyond that, screening should not be pushed significantly due to COVID-related concerns.”

Kosio said there was a difference in the number of women coming to mammogram screening when the outbreak of COVID-19 began, but now they are beginning to see the numbers return to their previous locations. She said people are starting to feel more comfortable and are beginning to see first-hand how much attention staff are paying to follow health protocols.

According to Coscio, the hospital has one entrance for non-staff and patients who need to be screened for symptoms, checked for temperature and always wear a mask. She also said that all staff went through the same process every day, leaving no one in the building unscreened, and the number of people walking the door from the beginning was limited.

“Everyone walking in our building is screened, everyone in our building wears a mask and is at a social distance … I think it gives people comfort,” Coscio said. Said.

Dr. Ainel Sewell, a radiologist at the Breast Care Center at Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital, said mammogram screening is the basis for everything related to breast cancer.

She said the number of patients visiting the hospital at the time of the first outbreak decreased, but she has since continued surgery by providing diagnostic mammograms and all procedures related to breast imaging with the necessary safety measures. It was.

“We are spacing patients in time and space,” Sewell said. “In time, we don’t have many patients at the same time, which surprises more patients …. Patients no longer gather in the waiting room …. Wipe the center of the breast every day.”

“Low price”

According to Sewell, the system complies with the standards of the American College of Radiology and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and women must be screened annually from the age of 40.