The BYU Employee Wellness office launched its annual Mammogram March initiative to provide preventative screenings for BYU employees and their family members.
Morgan Anderson, the Employee Wellness and Engagement Program Manager at BYU, explained Mammogram March has been an ongoing collaboration with Utah Valley Hospital. Throughout the entire month of March, Utah Valley Hospital reserves a room for the BYU community.
According to the American Cancer Society, approximately one in eight women in the U.S. will develop breast cancer during their lifetime. Mammogram March is BYU’s response to these alarming statistics.
Anderson emphasized the significance of breast cancer awareness, drawing from personal experiences within her own family. As a little girl, she witnessed her grandmother’s battle with breast cancer and the subsequent loss of one of her great aunts to the disease.
Underscoring the importance of early detection through routine mammograms, Anderson invites the BYU community to take advantage of this resource.
“We offer mammograms so that families don’t have to go through that, so that we can catch cancer early if it’s there,” Anderson said.
Furthermore, Gentry Gray, Mammography Supervisor at Utah Valley Hospital, highlights the multifaceted risk factors associated with breast cancer including age, birth control and hormone therapy.
Gray stressed the importance of regular screenings, citing the dynamic nature of breast tissue and the potential for rapid changes.
“A yearly mammogram is so important because tissue changes … one year you may have nothing and the next year you may have something,” Gray explained.
Gray emphasized the critical role of timely screenings, recounting positive outcomes for past BYU patients who received positive diagnoses and subsequent treatment.
“They were able to get treatment and they’re good … treatment-wise was way better that they caught it then than this year or next year,” Gray said.
As the program at BYU empowers individuals to prioritize their health and well-being, the American Cancer Society offers hope, estimating favorable survival rates for women diagnosed with breast cancer due to recent treatment improvements.
