Ensuring breast health no longer limited by finances

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Nearly 1,500 women in southwest Missouri were diagnosed with breast cancer last year. |ret||ret||tab|

If a woman hasn't had breast cancer herself, she certainly knows someone who has: a close friend, a mother, a sister. |ret||ret||tab|

Experiencing this disease with a loved one can't help but change how a woman looks at breast health. |ret||ret||tab|

Some women are reluctant to undergo mammograms for breast cancer out of fear that cancer may indeed be discovered. Worse, others won't go because they think they can't afford it.|ret||ret||tab|

Locally, the American Cancer Society and medical service providers are working to ensure that all women can have this life-saving screening regardless of insurance coverage. |ret||ret||tab|

Mammograms|ret||ret||tab|

St. John's Regional Health and Cox Medical Centers have breast care centers that provide mammograms. |ret||ret||tab|

Although Doctor's Hospital does not have a designated breast center, it does have the equipment to perform the screenings.|ret||ret||tab|

JoAnn Schahuber, Clinic Manager of the Women's Center Breast Care Clinic at Cox, calls mammograms "the one most effective tool for saving women's lives in the fight against breast cancer." |ret||ret||tab|

More than 65,000 mam-mograms were performed in Springfield last year.|ret||ret||tab|

While no test is infallible, annual mammograms do save lives. Gaylynn Crosby, cancer control specialist for the American Cancer Society, says that national ACS statistics indicate that 97 percent of breast cancers can be cured if found while in stage one, when the tumor is small enough not to be detected manually, but can be seen during a screening.|ret||ret||tab|

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Employees' health|ret||ret||tab|

For businesswoman Kathi Cryderman, owner of Harem and Company, a strong family history of cancer acts as a motivator for guarding her employees' health, as well as her own. For Cry-derman, this family experience has made the battle to cure cancer "very personal," because she is "aware of how fragile our health can be." She offers full health insurance coverage to all her employees. |ret||ret||tab|

Mammograms, which usually cost from $50 to $90 locally cost her employees only a $10 co-pay. |ret||ret||tab|

To further underscore her concern in this area, last October Cryderman produced a fashion show and seminar entitled "Time to Share." |ret||ret||tab|

The 36 models were all Springfield area breast cancer survivors, and the seminar covered breast health issues.|ret||ret||tab|

Cryderman believes that to be successful, "a business must run as a big working family."|ret||ret||tab|

She and her employees often discuss health issues, including breast health. In a perfect world, Cryderman says, all employers would offer excellent health insurance to their workers, and engage them in conversations encouraging them to take care of their health.|ret||ret||tab|

Mary Beth O'Reilly, a 5 1/2-year survivor of breast cancer, and CEO and administrative secretary of the Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks, also stresses the need for breast health education. |ret||ret||tab|

"Most breast cancer focus is on women over 40," she said. "But 17 percent of women with breast cancer are under 40 years old. Companies can do a great service for these women by offering information about self exams through their (human resources) departments."|ret||ret||tab|

O'Reilly added that companies would be doing their employees "a huge service" if they could provide community resource information and support group contacts to employees who get breast cancer.|ret||ret||tab|

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Financial help|ret||ret||tab|

But what about women who are uninsured or underinsured? Help is available from a number of sources. Doctors' Hospital, for example, has a program to provide free or low-cost screenings. |ret||ret||tab|

According to Patty Skjerve, Clinical Nurse Specialist at St. John's Breast Center, St. John's will also help uninsured women to obtain the service, because "we know we can always find ways to pay for mammograms for women who can't afford them. There are federally funded programs for women older than 50, and locally funded programs for younger women." The American Cancer Society has information on both of these programs.|ret||ret||tab|

The American Cancer Society also sponsors the Breast Cancer Network, in which St. John's and Cox personnel work together with community volunteers to coordinate free public programs and events focusing on breast health. Members of both breast care centers visit community groups by invitation to speak on the topic. |ret||ret||tab|

Several larger local companies, including General Electric and Springfield R-XII School District, request speakers from the breast care centers to speak with employees. Other interested companies are invited to do the same.|ret||ret||tab|

And starting this year, preventative breast health care will be on the road. Wellness on Tour, a bus equipped for mammograms and routine physical exams, will be ferrying St. John's equipment and medical personnel to small towns all over the Ozarks. Many of these visits will be community-based, but employers interested in having the bus stop at their businesses should contact the St. John's Breast Center.[[In-content Ad]]