Cancer Walk

breast cancer awareness month - and here at wjhl - we are good evening everyone. i am amy lynn. october is breast cancer awareness month. we will show you the latest information on technology, early detection and local resources.

over the next half hour we will be taking your questions and giving you answers that will make a difference. if you have a question about breast cancer, maybe it is about treatment or general risk factors, we had people standing by waiting to take your phone

call this evening. we want to start by introducing our two guests we have jocelyn medina and dr. linda ramsey. thank you for taking the time to talk with us. we have certainly been getting to know and talking about how things have changed and we have

a lot of questions and a lot of information to get out to our viewers tonight. let's start with an introduction and may be some of the background. we will talk -- start with you dr. ramsey. i have been here locally 27

years for breast imaging is my specialist is my especially. i now have a special interest in integrative medicine, so i am bringing the integrative approach, lifestyle, diet things like that cut back and help with treatment. i am focusing on that as

well.> dr. medina? i have been practicing for about 10 1/2 years. at women's imaging center we focus on detection and diagnosis of breast cancer . hopefully i think people come and nervous when they see us and i think most of the time

they leave feeling much better and having had their questions answered. we were talking about the changes in technology, tell me some of the changes you guys have seen in the technology and what is available now to women when it comes to the fight

against breast cancer . i can only imagine how quickly things change in the medical world. the digital imaging now, the computerized imaging is far better at detection. there are a lot more resources related to that. the interchange between

physicians, i can call someone and get another opinion right away. i think another thing that has really helped is the way we can do biopsies. women frequently do not need to go to the operating room before we can make a diagnosis. that really eases a lot of

discomfort, how long they have to wait, that whole aspect has drastically improved. that waiting period is so painful. you want that information right away as quickly as possible. that is absolutely right. there is no one, once she

realizes she has to have a biopsy to worry about it. it helps them move on to the next step if they have to or not have to worry about it anymore. we also have a lot of other modalities that we use with rest cancer detection -- breast

cancer detection like ultrasound and mri and those are great tools to help us with the mammography that we also use. there are a lot of different tools that we can get a better look. a lot of problem-solving so

that they don't have to go to surgery. very few women actually have breast cancer when they come in with a problem. most of the lumps and pain is not breast cancer. these tools help us narrow it down so that women did who do

have to have a sampling or a biopsy would only be those who have a more serious concern we are also a team with other clinicians that do breast work. we have meetings with our surgeons, are oncologists that do the chemotherapy, we work as a team and a group.

that is something that has changed, too. it is such a personalized thing, every patient that has a diagnosis, it is a different road for them to travel. there are different types of breast cancer, the staging is different , how old they are,

other medical conditions, there are so many things. what happened with your aunt may or the lady at church may not apply to you we tried to educate their patients about that and we also work with the other clinicians locally to help patients get the directed

care. it is far more connected than just electronic record. that is another thing that has been of benefit is all the sharing of the information to the electronic records. we talk about that team approach in every particular cancer is different.

everybody has a completely different situation. i think a lot of people don't realize how everyone is working together. because we are working together, we really treat breast cancer with the state of the art equipment we have

here in the region people think they have to go to a special place.the answer is no, here in this region we have excellent people who take care of breast cancer patients . we all work together. we are definitely blessed and how far we have come when

it comes to treating and diagnosing breast cancer. we talked about mammography, a lot of times the recommendations are confusing. what are your recommendations when it comes to how often a woman should have a mammogram and when they should start?

it seems that we are seeing younger and younger women being diagnosed. there is some controversy about when women should be screened, there are different entities making recommendations. our american college of radiology, the recommendation

is to start yearly mammography at age 40, but there are other recommending sources that may say between 50 and 70. it is i think our opinion, especially in this region, we would recommend mammography screening from age 40 on and every year.

we had to patients just in my practice today who were under the age of 40 these women have young children. i am not suggesting they should be screened under the age of 40, but it is just to show you that the recommendations that say wait till 50, i think we would

be missing quite a few people and we could make a difference. that is where we come from. that rick -- back here can make a big difference. that is exactly right. the state of breast cancer, the lower it is, the sooner we find it, the smaller the tumor

and the greater your chance of surviving the breast cancer . if we can find it on time, there is no reason to die from it. it is not typically a lethal disease as long as we can detect it. we just have to find it. if we are not screening people, it

could be harder for us to find it. thank you so much for joining us. we will take a quick break. this is the number if you would like to ask a question. one in eight women will have breast cancer in the united states.

have yearly breast cancer exams and yearly mammograms. i felt a lump. self breast exams once a month and mammograms once a year. when you walk, you are funding research that could save my life.

when you walk, i get the support i need from someone who has been there and i get a whole new look. when we walk, we may strike. -- make strides. join us and make strike this october. doctors tell me the drug probably saved my life.

we have come a long way, that women still die from breast cancer . we can do more. two more like raise awareness. it is about finishing the fight. walk with us, do your part and let finish the fight. welcome back to our special presentation tonight.

we are taking your questions and getting your answers tonight. we have doctors jocelyn medina and glenda ramsey. ladies, thank you again for we are getting a lot of questions in tonight and we want to get right to them.

we could talk for several hours and still not cover all the information. one lady called in wanting to know about some lifestyle things. does alcohol increase your chance for breast cancer and can exercise help send -- prevent breast cancer alcohol

does indeed increase your chance for breast cancer. the reason is it affects your liver in the hold the pot -- detoxification. the exercise is a tad bit more controversy all, most of the studies are showing that exercise is a magic pill for

every chronic disease including cancers. there are some specific trials in breast cancer, they had been mixed up but in general exercise is generally recommended to tolerance. you don't need to go out and start exercising if you have

been encountered potato you have to talk to your doctor. dr. ramsey, i am guessing a lot of women have a lot of follow-up question. is there anything i can do to reduce my risk of breast cancer a plant -based diet, a lot of fruits and vegetables, a low

glycemic diet, not a lot of sugar, that can increase the risk of breast cancer and we do recommend supplements like flaxseed and fish oil. eating healthy, getting enough sleep, reducing your stress and exercise. it is a wonderful world

right there. the next question that came in asked about 3-d mammography. 3-d mammography is another great tool we have for detecting breast cancer. we think, again, this is an emerging technology, not everything is known about what

affects these of -- survivorship of breast cancer, that we believe it allows us to detect breast cancer more efficiently and also help with us calling patients back who don't actually have a problem. a lot of times we will call with a mammography patients

back to have other pictures done. usually turns out okay but we have to call them back and do other pictures. this should reduce the amount of people who have to come back. it can decrease the inconvenience. don't panic

right away if you get that call back from a mammogram. it could be that they just need to check something a little further. most of the time it is not cancer. when you can press the breast, there is puckering on the edges and rings like that, a lot of

times that is all that is. there is no way for us to know that from the initial mammogram. this will help that situation because it is the 3-d look. a follow-up question to that, mri imaging, is that a good idea when it comes to breast cancer ? i think you

guys touched upon that in the beginning of the show. mri is probably the most sensitive test we have for breast cancer , but it is not for everyone. it is a long test that either you have to lie on your stomach for, it is difficult for some

patients to have that done. it is an extremely expensive test we use mri in patients who have a very high risk of breast that is typically who we use it on for screening. we also use it on patients who have been diagnosed with breast cancer in order to help a

surgeon decide which surgery is best for the patient and to see exactly where the cancer is so they can get it all out of the breast. we use it on certain populations of women. it is a great tool. it is not the easiest test for

every woman to have and can, in some cases be expensive for some patients. another question we got was on the process. what should i expect if i am called back in from a mammogram where something looks suspicious? what happens next?

it depends on what we see on the mammogram. it is that puckering typing on the edges, we usually do slightly different angles and things like that. some patients are call back because we see what might be a lump. usually those lumps are not

cancerous hot they could be fluid cysts, noncancerous tumors, we would typically do an ultrasound. some times it is a little tiny speck of calcium. most types of calcium are not serious in the breast, we take the magnification views where

we can study those calcifications and decide if they look serious enough to sample. it is very tailored, just like breast cancer treatment is tailored, so is the diagnostic side . the radiologist, when they see that first screening mammogram, they

make recommendations for the other ready allowed just that will see that patient. i do want to clarify that when you come in with no problem, that is called a screening mammogram. that is a situation where you may be called back in.

we don't read those online. that is not efficient. we reading them -- read them routinely with no interruption. we read the diagnostic mammograms, those are dumb when a patient has to come back in because they had a screening potential problem or they come

in the first time because of a lump or a nipple discharge or some problem that might be serious. that is a diagnostic mammogram they are much more tailored at that point. the radiologist is always attended -- it is always

attending. that way patients know the answer when they leave the firm that diagnostic study. there is a difference of the types of mammography and sometimes people get confused. you guys are actually they are during that process.

you can have them move perhaps in a different way. it is nice because it is that instant they are going to know something. again, there is not a single woman who gets called back for her mammogram who isn't instantly convinced that she

has breast cancer and it will be terrible . having them come in and being able to talk some -- to someone and know for sure what the plan is, i think it gives people a lot of comfort. most of the time it is good news. there is no problem, you don't

see anything suspicious and you can go back to your yearly exam . sometimes if it is more serious that we take additional steps and we work through the problem until we come up with the final plan needs to be for the patient. and they knew right then.

even if you need a biopsy or if this is serious, we are breast specialists and we are there to answer the questions. this is a specialty and that is one reason we do individually see and talk to patients to give them that answer and to kind of ease their minds.

sometimes it is easier to know that there is a problem and you can get direction for it then worry and wait for the phone call. and to be able to answer those questions and have peace of mind that this is our action plan.

we want to thank you both so much for your time this evening if you would like to ask a question, go ahead and ask that question, if we get it within the next half hour, we will get back with your answer. we have two other guests we want to get to.

we'll be right back. early detection is your best defense. that means monthly self breast a mammogram can find breast cancer when it is small and easier to treat . self arrest exams once a early detection that could save

your life. when you walk -- i get eight friendly face to take me to treatment. when you walk -- providing answers when i need them. when you walk, i get the support i need from someone who has been here.

win we walk, we make strides against breast cancer. join us and make strides this october. research around the world is making huge strides against breast cancer we have come a long way, but women still die from breast cancer.

we can do more . raise awareness. it is about finishing the fight. we are close. we are making progress. walk with us, do your part in let's finish the fight. welcome back.

thank you for tuning in we want to welcome holly booker and caroline allen, someone who knows firsthand what it means to fight this fight. thank you . we want to start with you caroline, i know you have walked that road, you are diagnosed at

the age of 26. it was actually three days before i turned 27 at 26 you are not supposed to hear the words breast cancer . i was in complete shock. what happened? did you feel something? you are not being advised to go in for

a mammogram. my mother was a survivor at the time and she always told me to do self exams. i found it after being at my gynecologist less than a month before, i found this lump and i said this wasn't right. i went and they said that is

probably nothing. i said i don't care, i wanted tested they did and ultrasounds. they finally did a needle biopsy and it came back cancer. i go to see my surgeon and he walks in the room, under a microscope it is cancer. i didn't even get up set until he

told me i was going to lose my hair i knew my mom had already beat it. that brings us to the american cancer society, we can laugh now, she is been cancer free for seven years. that is part of it. it is who we are, it is what we see i

know you guys were a great support and you can help people through that. we can and that is why we are here. we went carolyn or anyone else who gets diagnosed, we have a one 800 number that is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. someone got it

does go in and gets diagnosed, they can call. we have a week, you can come on in and we can take care of that for you. how important was that support for you? it was so important i went to the feel- good program and there was a

nurse that came in and she says that american cancer society does this this and this. but when she said i got to play with makeup and try on a wig i said i wanted to do that. i give them a sector may bra because i did have a complete bilateral vasectomy and then i

started volunteering with them. i did that for probably three or four years. i ran the program for a while and it was a lot of fun. we see that a lot with the american cancer society that they help someone -- they are helped through the the program

and they want to volunteer and help others. this made a difference to me . someone reached out to me and they were there and supported me emotionally or they gave me a ride to treatment and it made all the difference. at this horrible time in my

life, this made a difference. our volunteers keep coming back to pay it forward. you are also involved in the make strides walk , which wjhl is taking part in it is very successful coming up at the end of the month. we are very excited about

it. it is that founders park on the 30th registration is at 3:00. you can bring all your family and all your kids. tell me why this is important. where does the money go? the money raised goes directly to breast cancer

research funds . since about 1989, we have had a decrease in deaths from breast cancer . it is about 249,000 lives that up and said -- saved with the research. a medicine that survivors take after their treatment is an american cancer society drug.

it is $74 million, it is a lot. 36 percent is a lot, it is almost 250,000 lives. that is a lot of birthdays. i know when i got involved with the american cancer society.to read about how far we have come, we talked about that with the technology and the

treatment, it is amazing to see the strides that have been made it is. we have seen people diagnosed with similar cases just five years apart, to hear the difference in the technology, it is time the treatments are getting better, it is getting

better every day. carolyn i know you reach out to others to share your story, especially in the unique situation you are in being as young you are when you are i reach out to women who are newly diagnosed of all ages, but mostly people tell me to

call the younger ones because they don't think it happens to them. i am proof that it happens and it can be beaten. seven years i am still here. it is a wonderful program, i love your advice to others out there, what is your advice? self exams are so important.

always check, you know you're better -- you know your body better than anyone else in the world. if you are older, get your mammograms, if there is something that you know isn't right, get it checked out and don't stop until you are

comfortable with it. you had the programs, you had the 1-800 number and you want to help. we have so many breast cancer survivors in the area and they could use all of the support we can give them . on october 30, we are all good a

lineup on the start line and we are going to follow them to the finish line. it will be a huge day to celebrate life. we want everyone to come out. we will give everyone the information, cancer.org. i will be there, i hope you will join

us on the walk. where your pink , it is a day of celebration as we continue to make strides. ladies, thank you for joining us and carolyn, inc. you for sharing your story in continuing to get back to the community. that is going to do it for us

and we did not get your question, please call and we will try to get an answer for