LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Two doctors took a quick break from their busy days to share with us the need for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
"Breast cancer exists even in COVID," explained CHI St. Vincent Breast Surgeon Sirinya Preservt. "So it's a month where we wanna make women aware to go get their screening, go get their imaging as well as their clinical exams.
Dr. Peter Emanuel now tells you why every general hospital in America makes this a bid deal.
"The main driving force is finding the breast cancer early," he said.
And women watching may at this point be saying, "yeah, yeah, heard it all before."
But in 2021, this is why this month means more.
"People are scared to come into the office; scared to go to the breast center just because of worrying they might get COVID," Dr. Preservt said.
And that has produced a major complication.
"That the breast cancers are being detected later when they're larger and less easily removed with surgery or treated with radiation," Dr. Emanuel explained.
With one-in-eight women in the United States developing breast cancer, screenings are still a thing, with self-exams and mammograms usually beginning at age 40.
But...
"Each person's individual risk factors and profiles are not always what the guidelines say," Dr. Preservt said.
Words of life-saving wisdom from two doctors who took a break to remind us all of what October really means.
"Even though COVID and the pandemic exists, cancer does not stop," Dr. Preservt added.