Wellness Wednesday is sponsored by Intermountain Health.
“I came spring of March of 2023, and that's when they found it,”
They found breast cancer in Sheri Wiseman, and it had started spread.
“Utah is one of the lowest states for getting their mammograms done. And I do believe because women tend to prioritize their family or other things over themselves,” said Jenny Leonce, imaging coordinator for Intermountain Health.
Leonce coordinates the schedule for one Intermountain Health’s two mobile mammography units. Hers in northern Utah.
“We go as far as Green River to Willow, Logan, Colville, Camus, we travel all over the northern area. There is a southern mobile unit that takes care of the southern half of the state,” said Leonce.
That's the unit that takes care of Sherry Wiseman.
“When there's something here in our town that can take you, you know, relatively 30 to 45 minutes instead of three hours. It's that's a huge deal,” said Wiseman.
She lives in Milford, 50 miles from Cedar City.
“I think the convenience is a big reason that I've always got my mammograms every year, plus they call me and remind me and say, Hey, Sherry, what time you want your appointment,” she said.
“Almost every single lady is there walking out will say how glad we are that, how glad they are that we are there,” said Leonce.
Some patients may wonder if mobile mammography is the real deal.
Leonce said, “This is as real as it gets. There's, there's no difference between going to the mobile mammography and going to Intermountain Breast Care Center. Same certifications, same equipment certified, same physicians are reading the mammograms.”
What’s not the same? The patients who didn’t miss a life-saving diagnosis simply because they live in a remote area of the state.
“Mine actually went outside of the duct so it was starting to spread, you know, and if I wouldn't have gotten caught when I did, it, probably could have went to my lymph nodes and been a lot worse outcome,” said Wiseman.
To learn more about Intermountain’s mobile mammography program or to schedule your annual mammogram, visit intermountainhealthcare.org.
