In this episode of & So Much More, our host, Cami Smith, is joined by Dr. Audrey Graham, the Medical Director of Breast Imaging at Centra. Together, they shed light on the crucial topic of breast cancer awareness and the significance of breast health. Having worked at Centra for over 14 years, Dr. Graham has dedicated her medical career to work in breast imaging and being an advocate for women’s health.
One of the key points that they discuss is how women often prioritize the well-being of those they care for, putting themselves second and subsequently not seeking preventative care. Cami and Dr. Graham also delve into the symptoms that should immediately prompt women to seek medical care, such as experiencing pain in the breast or noticing something unusual.
Dr. Graham emphasizes the pivotal role of mammograms in early detection and explains how this diagnostic tool can uncover breast cancer in its earliest stages when it appears as just a few tiny specks before any symptoms are evident.
You won’t want to miss this encouraging and insightful conversation that will help you and your loved ones understand the importance of preventative care and breast health at any age!
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Transcript
Cami Smith:
Hi, and welcome to And So Much More. I'm your host Kami Smith, and I am here with Dr. Audrey Graham. Dr. Graham is here because it's the month of October as we are recording this, and whether you're listening to this in October or you're coming back and you're listening later, we want to shed a huge light on breast cancer awareness. And what did you explain it to me as?
Audrey Graham:
Breast health.
Cami Smith:
So breast health, and I love that approach to it because I think people don't often seek help until something's wrong, but we want to stay in a healthy place. We want to maintain a healthy place. And so we are going to talk about preventative. We are going to talk about mammograms. We're going to talk about how to even decipher all of the things because maybe you're going to go get your first one. Maybe you've put off getting your first one and it's time. And so hopefully we can put your heart and your mind at ease a little bit. So first, tell me a little bit about yourself.
Audrey Graham:
Okay. My name's Dr. Graham, and I am a radiologist fellowship trained in breast imaging, and I've been here at Centra for over 14 years.
Cami Smith:
Oh, wow. Have you always been in breast imaging?
Audrey Graham:
I have always been in breast imaging.
Cami Smith:
Okay. What made you choose that?
Audrey Graham:
Well, I really like women's health and women's imaging, and I've always been interested in advocating for women.
Cami Smith:
Yes. So it's important for these women to have someone who wants to represent a voice of health for them because I think a lot of times we don't prioritize our health. There's a lot of other people around us who need taken care of, or maybe it's just not something that you know to do yet. So how would you even begin the conversation of breast health?
Audrey Graham:
Yeah, I think that's a great question. And I think that women are natural nurturers and caretakers and tend to kind of put themselves second.
Cami Smith:
Yes.
Audrey Graham:
So as far as October, it's so great talking about women's health and breast health and what women can do to screen for breast cancer, which is very common. And then what they can do also just with maintenance and taking care of themselves by doing physical exams monthly and just being aware if they have any symptoms to go seek help.
Cami Smith:
Yeah. How do they know what symptoms should lead to actually seeking help versus just something that maybe feels a little abnormal?
Audrey Graham:
Yeah, that's a great question. So of course, pain is what most people come and see us for. The other thing is something that they might feel their exam might change. It's something that at any age, it's important to just pay attention to your own physical exam and how you're feeling. And if you notice a change to go and try and get some answers, whether it's your breast or if it's any other medical symptom or complaint.
Cami Smith:
So as we are talking about breast cancer awareness, but also breast awareness or breast health awareness, what are the first steps like for someone... Like last year, I got my first mammogram and I didn't even know who to call or where to go. And so even just getting the ball rolling, thankfully working at Centra, there's so much education available to me, but there's also so much education available to our community. So how would you advise somebody for that day one appointment or how to even set it up?
Audrey Graham:
Right. Yeah, those are all really good questions. So the incidents of breast cancer is high enough that we screen women that don't have any symptoms, and we start screening at the age of 40 and then every year. So once you get to 40, you should be getting yearly mammograms. The thing about doing mammograms is that we're trying to find something early. So if someone does develop something, we want to find it at the earliest smallest stage so that the treatment is easier. The mortality, your risks are much lower and you have many more treatment options. And often treatment is not as aggressive when we find it early. And that's what's heartening about working in this field is that most breast cancer patients do very well. And yes, they do need treatment, but we see them for years and years afterwards.
Cami Smith:
Oh, I love that. So you develop a lot of relationship with your patients.
Audrey Graham:
Yes, we do.
Cami Smith:
So we are following up with this episode after having a conversation with LuAnn Hunt, who is a breast cancer survivor who has turned into an advocate, which I think is amazing. It's kind of carried her story forward and is using that as a platform. And so do you see that a lot with your patients? I mean, I know that you go through something and it changes you on such a deep level, but what do you think? Was there anything different about LuAnn's story from a clinical perspective, maybe seeing her kind of propel forward?
Audrey Graham:
Yeah, I think it's really wonderful that when you face a diagnosis, how you approach it, your support system, your own system of beliefs factor into that. And as far as how you go through that journey, and many women do become advocates, whether it's the rest of their family, to get the rest of their family screened with their friends. And what's so wonderful about patients that go through this is that they can share their experience so it's not as scary for other women that may be facing similar situations.
Cami Smith:
Yeah. Well, I know that her work is definitely changing lives. Some of you have seen that, have been a part of that, but also your work and you're bringing education to the table as well. I do have very specific questions about like what is the difference between a 3D mammogram or getting, is it an ultrasound?
Audrey Graham:
Breast ultrasound, yeah.
Cami Smith:
A breast ultrasound. What are the difference between all the different ones and what would make you need to get one over the other?
Audrey Graham:
Yeah, those are great questions because mammography, we've seen changes in technology over the years and it's so exciting where we are right now with the 3D, which is the technical word, is tomosynthesis, but we just kind of use a layman's term of just 3D. It's easier because it's when we can take a mammogram and kind of look through it and almost look at it in an almost 3D sort of way to kind look through some of that dense breast tissue. And with this new technology, we're finding more cancers, smaller cancers.
Cami Smith:
Wow.
Audrey Graham:
Yeah, it's really wonderful.
Cami Smith:
That is incredible. And so you don't start there though or do you?
Audrey Graham:
Yeah, so with the 3D mammogram is what we do for all of our screening exams. So it's standard now.
Cami Smith:
That's awesome.
Audrey Graham:
And then mammograms are great because they can find a cancer before you can feel it. And they can also find cancer when it's just starting, when it may just be a few little specks on a mammogram that's just so small that it's not even a mass yet.
Cami Smith:
Yeah. So before that pain that brings you in.
Audrey Graham:
Right.
Cami Smith:
That is so great. That's almost a sigh of relief and comforting to know that there are ways to detect things so much sooner. What about coming in? For example, I had my first mammogram. I went to the mammo van and I loved it. It was very cool. They came straight to my work parking lot and I got to go out in this huge beautiful, I don't know if it was a fifth wheel or what, and they have a full facility in there, and they did my mammogram. And then I was referred to get an ultrasound this time around. And so when someone is looking to make that appointment, where do they call? Where do they begin? I mean, I'm assuming we can just come to our website. We will have those details there. But as far as facilities here at Centra, where is that available to them?
Audrey Graham:
So for mammograms, for a screening mammogram, if you don't have any symptoms, you don't need a doctor's order, you can just make an appointment.
Cami Smith:
Oh, nice.
Audrey Graham:
And just call and schedule a mammogram. So you don't need anything. If you're having a problem and need a diagnostic, so you need a workup, then you would need a doctor's order. So you'd call your general care, primary care doctor. And we usually start the workup with a mammogram, but based on what we see with the mammogram or what's happening that we may need breast ultrasound, which is a different way to look at the breast tissue. It's really good for breast cysts and looking at the ducks in the breast, the lymph nodes. So it's a slightly different way of looking at the breast. And then there's also breast MRI. So we have different modalities and each one has its strengths and weaknesses. No one test is perfect. So sometimes if we see something on the mammogram we need, we may need an ultrasound just to see what that is, whether it's a cyst or a mass.
Cami Smith:
Okay. Yeah, I love that. So for those of you who are watching and you're wondering what is your next step, go to our website and search mammography and there is a page there that has some information or just go to your primary care and ask questions. That's the one thing we talk about here on And So Much More so many times is how important it is to have such a good relationship with your primary care doctor. And so I love my primary care doctor, and that's such a great question that I had with her when I just went back in September.
And so it's important to get that ball rolling. It's important to listen to your primary care, but also to advocate for yourself and make that choice to do something that's so important for your body. And so thank you Dr. Graham for being here and for just helping kind of tear down these walls, pull back the curtain, and give us some insight on how to better take care of ourselves as women. I'm so thankful for that. And thank you all for listening to And So Much More.