In his article Preventive Care for Women in the CNMI Health Digest April 2011 issue, Dr. Gary Ramsey of the Commonwealth Health Center, stressed the importance of getting clinical breast examinations at least every three years starting at age 20, and yearly mammograms at 40 years old.
Ramsey said that mammograms save lives and the only key to surviving breast cancer is to find it early before it has a chance to spread. Ramsey said that women who have a history of cancer in the family are more at risk than those who don’t.
Signs of breast cancer
Ramsey added that any of these signs should be a red light for women:
• Lump, hard knot or thickening
• Swelling, warmth, redness or darkening of the skin
• Change in the size and shape of the breast
• Dimpling or puckering of the skin
• An itchy, scaly rash on the nipple
• Pulling in of the nipple or other part of the breast
• Sudden nipple discharge
• New pain in the breast that doesn’t go away
Ramsey recommends an annual mammogram starting at age 40, annual breast exams if you are 40 or older, and self-breast exams monthly.
Two helpful resources for cancer patients here are the CNMI Breast and Cervical Screening Program of the Department of Public Health, and the Commonwealth Cancer Association.
The program offers pap smears, clinical breast exams and mammograms free to women who are 21 years old and above, residents of the CNMI, meet the income guidelines, and has no health insurance that requires co-payment. Office hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday, and from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Please call 236-8713/27. Income guidelines are viewable at http://dph.gov.mp/?page_id=64.
CCA provides up to $500 financial assistance per person per year for medical, nutritional or therapeutic supplies for cancer patients and survivors, and lends equipment free like hospital beds, oxygen concentrators, commodes, walkers, and others. Call CCA at 682-0050, email [email protected], or visit www.ccamarianas.org for more details about CCA’s programs under its program manager Tina Sablan, and president Bud White.
