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'MammoMarathon' Takes Novel Approach to Screening
Organizers of the 24-hour event hope to encourage breast cancer awareness.
Oct. 26, 2007— -- Mammograms can be time-consuming, uncomfortable and difficult to schedule.
But one hospital in Erie, Pa., is trying to change all that by making a mammogram appointment a fun event.
The Breast Health Center at Hamot Medical Center is holding a MammoMarathon starting Friday morning. The center will perform mammograms around the clock for 24 hours.
"Mammograms are the best screening tool that we have for breast cancer," says Dr. Carol Ann Lyons, a radiologist at Hamot. "And we're trying to open that tool up to more women who are either too busy for normal appointment hours or scared to come alone."
The center is encouraging women to "bring a buddy" and enjoy the perks -- from massages to manicures, food and prizes -- that will accompany their 24-hour marathon of mammograms. Some women even plan to join in the event even if they are not having a mammogram.
"This is going to be a night out for me," says Renee Cunningham, 55, from Westfield, N.Y., who is signed up to receive a mammogram at 12:20 a.m.
Cunningham says that although she usually doesn't look forward to her biannual mammograms, this one will be different.
"There are going to be a lot of fun activities to do there, and it makes me feel better about going," she says.
Doctors and hospitals have reason to seek new encouragement for women who need mammograms. According to a study published in May of this year in the journal Cancer, fewer women than ever are getting annual mammograms.
Between 1987 and 2000, the percentage of American women age 40 and older who were getting regular mammograms grew steadily. This increase is partially credited for lowering the death rate from breast cancer. Since 2000, a series of studies has shown mammogram rates first leveling off and then declining.
Doctors at Hamot recognized that it was difficult for some of their patients to make and keep appointments for mammograms.
"It's hard to get an appointment, and so many women work late shifts," says Linda Mangold, the assistant manager of regional imaging services at the medical center, who originally came up with the idea.
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