Queensway Carleton Hospital urges regular mammograms

It is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the Queensway Carleton Hospital wants to encourage more women get regular mammograms.

October is breast cancer awareness month, and the Queensway Carleton Hospital is encouraging women to get regular mammograms.

Lindsay Wyers, Vice President of Digital Transformation and Chief Information Officer at the Queensway Carleton Hospital, says mammograms should be done frequently so that any issues are spotted early.

“It should be as normalized as bloodwork,” Wyers told CTV Your Morning Ottawa on Wednesday.

Getting a mammogram every year to two years allows individuals to establish a baseline, which Wyers says makes it easier to document changes and spot issues in the breast tissue.

Wyers says all individuals who are 40 and over can now self-refer for mammograms. Individuals who are 30 and over and present a high risk, meaning they have a family history of breast cancer or present genetic markers, can also self-refer.

“You don’t need to go to your family doc or nurse practitioner to be able to come and get a mammogram,” Wyers said.

Wyers underwent her first mammogram recently and she says others have nothing to fear.

“It takes 10 minutes, it’s quicker than going to the drive through at Tim Hortons and for me, it was less painful than going to the dentist,” she said.

Wyers filmed her entire appointment and posted the video online so others could better understand what it’s like to go through the process.

“I was actually really nervous about it, so for me it was important to share that message to women out there and to really normalize the idea of a mammogram,” she said.

According to the Canadian Cancer Society, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among Canadian women, outside of non-melanoma skin cancers.

To schedule an appointment for a mammogram at the Queensway Carleton Hospital, individuals can call 613-721-4711 ext. 3.

“Benjamin Franklin said it best, that ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.’ So I think its really important,” Wyers said.

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