While many women may be intimidated by the prospect of getting a mammogram, the mammography technologists from Northwest Indiana (NWI) Breast Care Center at Methodist Hospitals are there to educate and encourage everyone who walks through the door.
Choosing an elective course at NWI Breast Care Center and learning about mammography is what led Savana Taneski to choose her field of study and come back to the center to work as a mammography technologist. Now, she considers it her joy and responsibility to educate others about mammograms as she was once taught.
“I think it's important that, when new patients come in, we teach them how important mammograms are. We recently did a biopsy on a patient for something that wasn’t bothering her at all, and that’s the whole purpose of mammograms. We find problems before patients even start to feel them,” Taneski said.
A love for educating patients about breast health is of utmost importance to everyone at NWI Breast Care Center, and Mammography Technologist Nicole Minder considers it a privilege to advocate for the breast health of her patients. Minder encourages women to be their own breast health advocates, but she and her fellow mammography techs are eager to walk alongside women and ensure they have all the imaging and information they need going forward.
“From the women who come to our center year after year to the women who have never had a mammogram and are scared because they feel a lump in their breast, I see our impact all the time,” Minder said. “When you come to our center, you are not alone. We have a couple of breast cancer survivors on our staff, and there’s not one woman at the center who hasn’t been touched by breast cancer in one way or another.”
Having firsthand experience with breast cancer, Mammography Technologist Tammy Hughes understands the importance of early diagnosis through mammograms and is driven to combat the negative stigma of getting a mammogram by making women feel comfortable throughout the process.
“I’ve had breast cancer, so I feel like I can share my story and be empathetic toward what they’re feeling or thinking,” Hughes said. “I had a patient recently who’d had breast cancer in the past and was uncomfortable and nervous about her mammogram. At the end, she said, ‘You made this experience much better than what I was anticipating.’ She felt better when she left versus the nerves she had before she came in.”
With shared priorities and a commitment to care, Mammography Tech Assistant Sandra Probasco is proud of the strong community the mammo techs at NWI Breast Care Center have cultivated. Probasco understands how much tight-knit communities can motivate people on an individual level and hopes that the women they help will, in turn, encourage others to schedule mammograms.
“The more people we can get in, the more people’s minds are at ease. They realize it isn’t that bad, and then they spread the word. They get their sisters, their cousins, and other women to come in as well. If people have a good experience, it carries over into the community,” Probasco said.
Mammography Technologist Kirsten Wiley is happy to serve others and feels an added sense of responsibility to ensure the health of the community since she is from the area.
“We take a lot of pride in serving the communities we grew up in,” Wiley said. “I enjoy interacting with the patients as they come back year after year. We get to build a rapport with them.”
To learn more about services offered by Northwest Indiana Breast Care Center at Methodist Hospitals, click here. For more information about Methodist Hospitals, visit https://methodisthospitals.org/.