Kenya Johnson was identified with breast most cancers at 47 — after her first mammogram.
Getting the scan was a last-minute choice. Her sister was getting in for her annual mammogram and persuaded Johnson to tag alongside. Docs discovered a lump, and a biopsy confirmed the prognosis.
She endured months of chemotherapy and radiation that left her in debilitating ache and with lifelong well being issues. After her remedy, Johnson was impressed to serve her neighborhood and fellow most cancers survivors.
She based We Care 2 Company in 2019 to offer quite a lot of neighborhood outreach — together with bringing care packages to sufferers at most cancers facilities and spreading consciousness about free well being assets in Chicago.
“I don’t need anybody to undergo what I went by way of alone,” Johnson mentioned. “I’m going to do what I have to do to assist the folks.”
One effort Johnson works with is a free mammogram program on the College of Chicago that goals to enhance breast most cancers prevention and scale back entry disparities to well being care.
This system, referred to as SCORE, provides the free scan to ladies age 40 or older with out medical health insurance.
Common well being screenings declined considerably throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers have warned that delayed most cancers screenings will result in hundreds of further cancer-related deaths.
October is breast most cancers consciousness month to attract consideration to the 44,000 individuals who die from breast most cancers within the U.S. yearly and the 200,000 identified yearly. The overwhelming majority of breast most cancers sufferers are ladies.
And in Chicago, Black ladies are 39% more likely to die from breast most cancers in comparison with white ladies.
Brenda Gonzales, who coordinates this system and breast most cancers research at College of Chicago Drugs, says SCORE, which began in November 2020, intends to enhance well being entry and preventive take care of breast most cancers in Chicago.
Most of Gonzales’ work focuses on spreading consciousness of this system. On a current weekend, she had a sales space arrange at a breast most cancers survivor stroll, organized by Johnson with We Care 2 Company, in North Lawndale.
A participant reveals off her shirt at a current breast most cancers survivor stroll organized by We Care 2 Company in North Lawndale. The shirt says, “Step by Step, Little by Little, Altering Lives.”
“College of Chicago is that this ivory tower in the course of all this poverty and underserved populations and communities,” Gonzales mentioned. “We’ve got these nice assets, however many individuals don’t learn about them.”
Gonzales is the information for ladies who are available for his or her free mammogram. She makes certain they perceive the method, she arranges free transportation or free parking, and she or he sits with sufferers earlier than their scans.
As soon as the affected person will get her mammogram, a radiologist instantly evaluations their outcomes. In the event that they’re clear, the affected person goes residence. If one thing reveals up on the scan, the affected person sees an oncologist that day, and if wanted, they’re scheduled for a biopsy. All freed from cost.
For the reason that program began, 68 ladies have are available for a mammogram, and of these, one girl was identified with breast most cancers. The hospital helped her enroll in Medicaid, and she or he continues to get remedy on the College of Chicago.
“We don’t need to give somebody a free scan after which simply say, ‘bye,’” Gonzales mentioned. “Our purpose is to convey them into the medical system and supply them entry to care.”
Gonzales’ outreach for SCORE matches together with her work on the WISDOM study, one of many College of Chicago’s ongoing breast most cancers research. The research consists of practically 67,000 ladies from throughout the U.S., 2,000 of whom are in Chicago.
The ladies within the research — ages 40-74 with no private breast most cancers historical past — submit their mammogram outcomes to the research and obtain free genetic testing for breast most cancers mutations.
WISDOM is managed on the College of Chicago, partially, to assist recruit extra Black and Brown ladies for the research, Gonzales mentioned.
She explains the WISDOM research at outreach occasions and to sufferers who are available for the free mammogram.
Present pointers for breast most cancers screenings don’t do sufficient to stop ladies from getting late-stage, aggressive breast most cancers, says Dr. Olufunmilayo Olopade, an oncologist with University of Chicago who works on the research.
“We now have good therapies which are efficient at eliminating most cancers, when caught early. We not have to see a prognosis of breast most cancers as a dying sentence,” Olopade mentioned.
A girl thought-about larger danger has dense breasts, a household historical past of breast most cancers and assessments optimistic for breast most cancers mutations — the most typical ones being the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes.
“The purpose of the research is that each girl is aware of what their danger is, to behave and alter behaviors and ensure nobody is available in with superior breast most cancers,” Olopade mentioned.
“And so we will not say that Black ladies are dying at a better price.”
For extra about WISDOM: https://www.thewisdomstudy.org/UCM.
For details about SCORE, contact Brenda Gonzales: bgonzales1@uchicagomedicine.org
