Survivor Thankful for program. University Hospitals-Geneva Medical Center offers free mammograms to women ages 40 to 60 without insurance
By MARGIE TRAX PAGEStaff Writer
mtrax@starbeacon.com
GENEVA - - When Conneaut resident Julie Smith gathered the mail from her mailbox one cold January day, her mind was on the falling snow, the cold air and the frozen lake.
As Smith, 43, quickly sifted through the bills, advertisements and letters, her eye fell on a notice for free mammograms for women without insurance. That notice may have saved her life.
The University Hospitals-Geneva Medical Center offers free mammograms to women ages 40 to 60 without insurance through a $60,000 grant from the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The grant supports the mammography program and educational programs.
"This is our fifth grant from the northeast Ohio branch of the foundation, and it is a significant amount of money," community education director for GMC Lori Slimmer said.
"We are targeting the younger population and going into the high schools to teach prevention and early detection," Slimmer said. "But mammograms are part of early detection," she said.
Smith, who is adopted and doesn't know her biological family's medical history, began to think about the possibility of breast cancer.
"I didn't feel a lump or anything, but that notice I got in the mail stuck in the back of my mind. I started to think about getting that mammogram," Smith said. "The unknown made me want to get checked," she said.
Smith got her mammogram in February.
"As soon as the screens came back and showed something, I knew I had cancer. They didn't even have to say the words," Smith said.
The mammogram showed that though the cancer wasn't advanced, it was widespread, affecting more than one-third of the breast. Smith had an emergency mastectomy and radiation.
"If I hadn't had this mammogram, I wouldn't have found out about it," Smith said. "I don't have health insurance, so I wouldn't have known any other way. I still wouldn't know," she said.
Smith was one of hundreds of walkers in the Walk for the Cure at Geneva High School in late September. As a survivor, she wore a pink hat to commemorate her struggle.
"I am so thankful for this program. I want to encourage people with no insurance to take advantage of the great opportunity to get a mammogram," Smith said.
Star Beacon Print Edition: 10/11/2006
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