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Mammogram numbers stay steady locally



Jennifer Colton | Argus Observer Nancy Moore makes notes on a patient’s chart after viewing the mammography X-rays at Holy Rosary Medical Center Thursday. Nationwide, the number of women taking yearly mammograms is slipping, but locally numbers remain constant.
Jennifer Colton

Argus Observer

Ontario

While the number of women obtaining mammograms across the nation has dipped during the past five years, locally the total number of individuals seeking such care is holding steady.

In 2000, 76.4 percent of women 40 and older reported having a mammogram in the previous two years, but the number has continued to decline, standing at 74.6 percent in 2005, according to a study released Jan. 26 by the Centers for Disease Control. The waning numbers could portend an increase in breast cancer mortality, as breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second-leading cause of cancer-related death among woman in this country, also according to the study.

“Last year here at Holy Rosary our numbers have stayed pretty much the same,” Linda Scott, HRMC Diagnostic Imaging Department director, said Thursday. “In this area, in Malheur County, we’re actually seeing an increase. I find it (the decline) hard to believe because information is always in front of people.”

Fred Oyer, a radiologist at Holy Rosary Medical Center, said he had not seen a decline in this area, but he had heard of numbers in Boise dropping.

“I think it’s economics,” Oyer said. “I think people are strapped financially and they have priorities so instead of getting a mammogram, they put it off every year.”

In 2006, HRMC performed 3,200 mammograms at the hospital and an additional 406 at Dominican Health Services.

“In Malheur County, the average invasive cases per year is 18, and the average deaths is three,” Scott said, referring to statistics from 2000 provided by the Oregon Department of Human Services. “That’s quite a few when you think about the size of Malheur County.”

There were 5,745 women over 45 in Malheur County in 2005, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“Right now the American Cancer Society only recommends yearly mammograms for women over 40,” Scott said. “But with breast cancer, the single best thing you can do is early diagnosis.”

Keeping information available, through mass-mailing reminders and health fair booths, is one of the reasons the area has held steady or increased in the number of mammograms performed, Scott said.

“Once someone has a mammogram here, we send them a letter every year to remind them to schedule it,” Scott said. “It’s such an easy thing to do.”

Scott also cited the recent addition of no-cost screenings at the hospital’s Dominican Health Services clinic in Fruitland for women who qualify as a reason the number of local mammograms has stayed the same or increased.

Those services are provided through a Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation grant, Scott said.

Anyone interested can call (541) 881-7125.

for an application.




Comment Blog - Note: All Comments Subject To Approval

No Dhimmi wrote on Aug 14, 2009 9:38 PM:

" Islam is a woman-hating, human-enslaving ideology that should NOT be taught in our public schools. It's obvious the Saudis and the rest of the Muslim fanatics who are trying to take over the world have bought off the State of Oregon. Expect lawsuits.

And this isn't "racist," because Islam is not a race, anymore than Communism or Nazism are races, both of which killed far fewer people than Islam.

Disgusting. "

anonymous wrote on Aug 10, 2009 2:19 AM:

" The girl was Latasha Rodriguez "

Cody W. Ables wrote on May 16, 2008 11:04 PM:

" May 16, 2008

Here is something that we should all read. This is a letter from an angry woman in New Jersey regarding the War in Iraq and all of the war’s negative publicity. Pay attention.

'Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001?

Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan, across the Potomac from our nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania?

Did nearly three-thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they?

And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was 'desecrated' when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it wet?...Well, I don't. I don't care at all.

I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.

I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia .

I'll care when these thugs tell the world they are sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling slashed throat.

I'll care when the cowardly so-called 'insurgents' in Iraq come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques.

I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs.

I'll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law instead of the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights.

In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don't care.

When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college-hazing incident, rest assured: I don't care.

When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank: I don't care.

When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and fed 'special' food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being 'mishandled,' you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts: I don't care.

Sooner or later, it'll get to the people responsible for this ridiculous behavior!

If you don't agree, then by all means quit reading. Should you choose to do so, then please don't complain when more atrocities committed by radical Muslims happen here in our great Country! And may I add:

'Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem' -- Ronald Reagan

I have another quote that I would like to add

'If we ever forget that we're One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.' Also by.. Ronald Reagan

One last thought for the day:

In case we find ourselves starting to believe all the Anti-American sentiment and negativity, we should remember England 's Prime Minister Tony Blair's words during a recent interview. When asked by one of his Parliament members why he believes so much in America , he said: 'A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many want in.. And how many want out.'

Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you:
1. Jesus Christ
2. The American G. I.
Important for us all!!!!
One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.

MANY SEEM TO FORGET BOTH OF THEM. AMEN!’


I hope you take this woman’s viewpoint into consideration. It closely parallels my own. As I begin my journey in becoming a soldier of the greatest country in the world, hearing this woman’s words sets my heart at ease. It is warming to know that there are people in this great country who still care about those men and women who have no choice.


Cody W. Ables
U.S. Air Force Academy 2012
"


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