Every woman knows the facts: Mammograms, combined with monthly breast self-exams, save thousands of lives each year. But coping with multiple family and professional responsibilities sometimes makes it difficult to schedule time for a mammogram.
In fall 2007, the MemorialCare Breast Center in San Clemente opened, adding another dimension of convenience to the lives of busy women living in south Orange County. This new facility, a screening satellite site, is an extension of the MemorialCare Breast Center at Saddleback Memorial- Laguna Hills where our staff will provide advanced follow-up breast care should it be necessary.
The San Clemente facility, located at the Saddleback Health Center in Talega, is designed for the comfort and convenience of patients, and boasts a professional, attentive staff to make the mammography experience as stress-free as possible. With the addition of the San Clemente site, Saddleback Memorial now provides easier access to state-of-the-art mammogram screenings for women in the area.
Like the other MemorialCare Breast Centers, located at Orange Coast Memorial, Anaheim Memorial and Long Beach Memorial, the San Clemente facility will provide quality breast care in a caring and compassionate environment. Together, MemorialCare Breast Centers serve over 100,000 women annually, providing our physicians and staff the unique opportunity to develop and implement best-practice medicine related to breast care.
Community response to the new facility has been overwhelmingly positive. “This breast center will be a great asset to the city,” says San Clemente resident Lisa Rodarti, a breast cancer survivor and mother of three. In October 2002, the then-38-year-old owner of Erba Home Furnishings and Erba European Soaps and Body Care was diagnosed with breast cancer at the MemorialCare Breast Center at Saddleback Memorial-Laguna Hills. “I was young, had no family history of the disease or genetic reason to develop breast cancer,” says Lisa.
Over the next few months, she underwent treatment. “I’m in total remission and feel completely healthy now,” says Lisa, who cut the ribbon at the grand opening of the San Clemente facility. She is especially appreciative of the convenience that the new center offers San Clemente and neighboring cities’ residents. “I hope the availability of the new site encourages every woman in San Clemente and the surrounding communities to have a mammogram.”
The new facility is equipped with digital mammography, placing it on the leading edge of breast care. “Digital mammograms are available in very few breast imaging centers nationwide,” says Liz Bear, Saddleback Memorial-San Clemente administrator. Soon after the opening of the all-digital MemorialCare Breast Center in San Clemente, the Laguna Hills breast center will also convert to full digital technology.
This method of imaging the breast involves the use of a special detector to convert X-ray energy into a digital picture almost instantaneously. This technology makes mammograms convenient and faster for patients and limits the need for retakes. It also allows the radiologist to manipulate the image, magnifying details, increasing or decreasing contrast, or reversing black and white values—all of this improving the quality of the exam and the interpretation. “A recent Digital Mammography Imaging Screening research study sponsored by the U.S. National Cancer Institute showed that digital mammography was significantly better than film mammography in screening women who had very dense breast tissue, which often includes women under 50 or those who were pre- or perimenopausal,” says Lauralyn Markle, M.D., medical director at the MemorialCare Breast Center at Saddleback Memorial.
The American Cancer Society recommends annual mammograms for all women 40 years of age and older. High-risk women younger than 40 should talk to their doctor about when to begin screening.
