Mammos & Mimosas event to spotlight early detection for breast cancer

Advancements in medicine can make it seem as though early detection of breast cancer is no longer so vital. But it is, and to help remind women to get an annual diagnostic exam, a Mammos & Mimosas event is planned for Oct. 11 at Summerlin Hospital Medical Center.

The free health fair-style event is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the outpatient lobby at the hospital, 657 N. Town Center Drive. It is presented by the hospital’s Women Enlightened for Better Health (WE) program, which started in May. In addition to information about breast cancer, vendors, a continental breakfast with mimosas and a scavenger hunt are planned, along with raffles and giveaways and a tour of The Breast Care Center at Summerlin Hospital. The first 10 women will receive free mammogram screenings.

Speakers scheduled from 10:45 to 11:20 a.m. are Dr. Souzan El-Eid, medical director for The Breast Care Center, breast cancer survivor Jeanette Tellefsen and entertainer Olivia Newton-John.

Newton-John made headlines in 1992 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent a partial mastectomy and was given chemotherapy for about a year. Although she didn’t lose her hair, she suffered nausea and her veins collapsed. The good news: She is cancer-free.

The medical community believes breast cancer is caused by damage to one’s cell DNA.

“We keep going back and forth with the government-assigned task force on when we should do mammograms, but among the societies that deal with breast cancer, they say (a woman should have) a mammogram every year starting at age 40,” said El-Eid, who also works with Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada. “If the woman is at higher risk, according to her family history, or if she has a genetic predisposition, then start mammograms earlier. ”

She said today’s digital mammograms, sometimes called 3D mammograms, show the breast tissue better than old-fashioned X-rays, allowing the cancer to be caught earlier.

According to the World Health Organization, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women across the globe, taking the lives of hundreds of thousands of women each year.

Kiara Estill, a Henderson resident, is a breast cancer survivor. She found the lump in her left breast in February 2013, two months before her 52nd birthday. She had a cold at the time and passed it off as just an infection.

“I didn’t know there was a second one until about a week later when I felt it,” she said, adding that the lump was 3 centimeters.

Her last mammogram had been the August before. Estill was officially diagnosed on May 3 with two lumps. By that time, the one in her lymph nodes had grown to 5 centimeters.

“My family was going through so many health challenges during that time that, for me, being diagnosed with breast cancer was laughable at best,” she said. “So I didn’t really have time to become afraid. Mostly, I just focused on placing one foot in front of the other and thought about the story I would have to share when I finally regained my health.”

Estill underwent radiation and chemotherapy and opted to have both breasts removed.

“Chemotherapy, for me, was, by far, the most brutal process that I’ve ever endured in my life,” she said. “… If I were to be diagnosed with breast cancer, or any other type of cancer, again, I would hope that there would be a different treatment for me because the thought of enduring chemo again is just not an option, as far as I’m concerned.”

Estill is now without any signs of cancer. She acts as ambassador for the Smiles For Survivors nonprofit, which provides dental services to those who have breast cancer. She advises women to check themselves constantly, in addition to getting an annual mammogram.

Having breast implants may cause some to forego exam, El-Eid said.

“I’ve noticed some women with implants believe the exam may squish and maybe rupture the implant,” El-Eid said. “I don’t know where that came from. The bottom line is: mammograms save lives.”

El-Eid said that with the new machines for early detection, a person’s chances of survival are better than ever.

“Having fancy names like (Mammos & Mimosas) are to remind people, to put that picture in their head, that they are due and need to schedule a mammogram,” El-Eid said.

For more information about The Breast Care Center at Summerlin Hospital, visit tinyurl.com/osz2tsp.

Contact Summerlin Area View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 702-387-2949.