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Cancer survivor urges screenings despite pandemic delays
Ken Suarez reports
LAKELAND, Fla. - Experts predict the number of deaths from breast cancer will rise because of the pandemic.
They expect to see close to 2,500 more women die by 2030 from breast cancer because they put off their mammograms.
Dr. Tony Nguyen, an oncologist and surgeon at Lakeland Regional Health Hollis Cancer Center, says early detection is the key.
"In and of itself, breast screening is a cure, and the most effective weapon we have against breast cancer," he told FOX 13.
At the start of the pandemic, health screenings were put on hold for more than a month, so women could not be screened.
When screenings resumed, at certain points, they were down by 80 percent.
"After the restrictions were lifted, the screening rates improved significantly, but it never got back to the pre-pandemic stage,’ which he says, "was not spectacular to begin with."
Holly Cain Tritschler found out what can happen by putting off a mammogram.
During her 40s, she thought she didn’t have time to be screened. She was working as a journalist, raising kids and involved in the PTA.
When she finally got a mammogram, she discovered that she had stage 3 breast cancer. She underwent chemotherapy, surgery after surgery, including a double mastectomy, and radiation.
"I tell my friends now, get your mammogram," she said. "I tell everyone, if you think you’re young, or you think you can’t afford it, it is so much better than the alternative."