Cal Julian, a sales manager for a waste disposal company in St. George, underwent a mammogram in 2009 but skipped it the following year.
However, Julian, 60, of St. George decided to have another mammogram when staff from Dixie Regional Medical Center approached her and her mother at the What Women Want trade show in October 2011 and notified them about a free mammogram service. Julian learned she was eligible at the time for the free mammogram because she was uninsured. Four years later, as a breast cancer survivor, she is glad that she had it done.
After undergoing the mammogram, DRMC staff notified her about a suspicious mass in both breasts and recommended an additional mammogram and biopsy, which detected cancer in her left breast.
Julian said her doctor referred her to a surgeon, and she underwent a lumpectomy in December 2011. After taking a month to recover from the procedure, Julian underwent six weeks of radiation therapy to prevent breast cancer from recurring. She continues to take a daily dose of a hormone regulator to prevent her body from creating new cancer cells.
Referring to the mammogram, Julian said, “I would recommend it to a lot of people, to women who do not have insurance. They don’t know where to go [to obtain mammograms]. They have never had one.”
For such women, they can turn to the Dixie Regional Medical Center Foundation, which has money available for mammograms to be performed for free if they are 40 and older and lack insurance or otherwise cannot afford the procedure. The service is available to women who are not on Medicaid or Medicare and live in Washington or Iron counties.
According to the Dixie Regional Medical Center communications director, Terri Draper, they started the Mammogram 500 program during the Jubilee of Trees event in 2010. The Foundation received enough money in 2014 from the Susan G. Komen Foundation to provide 100 mammograms for free to women in Washington and Iron counties. Mammograms cost approximately $350.
As of late July, the DRMC Foundation had enough money to pay for 15 additional mammograms. Susan G. Komen Foundation pays for the mammograms, while the hospital foundation provides matching dollars to cover the costs of radiologists reading the films at both hospitals.
DRMC and its clinic in Hurricane performed 15,078 mammograms in 2014, and the cancer detection rate was 12.52 for every 1,000 women.
According to the Utah Department of Health, breast cancer is the most common cancer that affects American women and is the leading cause of death for women in Utah. The State Department states that mammography is the best method for detecting cancer early.
Routine screening with mammography can cut breast cancer deaths by 20 to 30 percent in women ages 50 to 69, and 17 percent for women ages 40 to 49.
“I am an advocate for getting the mammograms,” said Julian. “It probably saved my life.”
To schedule an appointment, call Dixie Regional Medical Center at (435) 688-8499.
RELATED STORIES:
– Free mammograms available to qualifying individuals through DRMC Foundation
