Denise Membreno

Denise writes about the people and places of Smith Mountain Lake in "Shorelines," published bi-weekly.

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The numbers seem suprising: As many as 50 percent of the women in Bedford County and Bedford who should be getting mammograms are not getting them.

Don Updike said he was shocked by the numbers. The manager of imaging services at Bedford Memorial Hospital oversees the Just for Me Mammogram Program. He and the rest of the radiology staff are counting on the program to bring more women in for the potentially life-saving test.

"We started this program last fall," explained Updike. "Our purpose is to reach ladies who, for whatever reason, have never had a mammogram or who have gone a long time between screenings."

Bedford Memorial Hospital received nearly $10,000 in grant money from the Community Health Foundation to offer free mammograms to area residents. As a part of the application process, thecommunity's need were assessed.

"We took the number, by population, of ladies in the area," said Updike. "Then we determined how many screens were being done in Bedford, and then we extrapolated how many women were getting the test done in Lynchburg and Roanoke. We determined 40 to 50 percent of the women in Bedford city and county who should betting mammograms were not getting them."

Leon Wiley, who volunteers in Bedford Memorial's community-education program, helped write the grant applications. A cancer survivor himself, he goes out into the community to urge women to get mammograms.

"Many women tell me, 'If I have a problem, I don't want to know.' A lot of them have heard it hurts or they tell me they don't have time," said Wiley. "I caught my cancer in the early stages, and I'm five years into the game and I haven't had a problem. So I tell them, 'The whole thing is to try to catch it early and help eliminate serious problems down the road.'"

Laura Toms is a registered technician in Radiology at Bedford Memorial. She said she always tells women not to listen when friends or family tell them mammograms are painful.

"Every woman's experience is different," explained Toms. "You may not feel any discomfort. There are many different variables. We have worked very hard here to create a comfortable atmosphere to ease any stress surrounding the experience."

Bedford Memorial's mammogram waiting area looks more like a living room than a doctor's office. When patients are called for their appointment, they are taken to a cozy dressing room complete with coffee and tea service and plush pink robes. The mammogram rooms have not been forgotten and are decorated with pretty wallpaper.

The National Cancer Institute recommends women in their 40s and older have mammograms every one to two years. Women who have never had a mammogram or have not had one in several years may be eligible for the Just for Me program. To qualify, women also must be symptom-free. Updike said most of the women in the program so far do not have insurance or are underinsured.

"It's an economic thing," said Dr. James Lynde, a radiologist at Bedford Memorial. "It's like going to the dentist and getting your teeth cleaned. People should do it, but if you don't have the money, you skip it."

Lynde has specialized in reading mammograms since 1997. He recently read his 110,000th mammogram.

"Dedicated mammography is much better. It's just like anything else you do in life, the more you do it the better you are at it," he said. "Ten years ago there weren't many people solely dedicated to reading mammograms. I think if you're going to have the procedure done, you should find an office that has dedicated mammography."

Lynde said mammograms cost about $100, adding that he believes the procedure should cost less.

"The [women] who are getting screened are from a higher socio-economic background," said Lynde. "The ones that aren't getting it have the worst breast cancers because they aren't getting detected early."

Updike said at least two cancers have been caught by the Just for Me Program. Just for Me covers the screening, but Updike said there are other programs that help cover the cost of treatment.

Women are urged to come in for their mammograms in groups, for example, with fellow members of a civic organization or with family or friends. The support system can help lessen the stress surrounding the procedure.

"We'll couple those group screening sessions with a little discount at our gift shop as well as free blood-pressure and blood-sugar screenings while they are here," added Updike.

"Screening mammography finds cancers -- there is no doubt about it," said Lynde. "The sad thing is many breast cancers are still caught by self examinations, and by that time, it's later than it could have been. The message [is]: get screened and detect it early."