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Me, Myself, as Mommy: Solis Mammography a bright spot in women’s health

By Meg Sanders - Special to the Standard-Examiner | Jan 10, 2025
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Sticky notes with encouraging messages by past patients adorn a mirror inside Solis Mammography.

I’m ready to issue a mea culpa. It doesn’t happen often, but this time it’s well earned. Months ago, I attempted to make my first mammogram screening appointment. The expected wait time was three months before a clinic could get me in the doors. While I stand by my pronouncement that the state of women’s health care is a travesty not soon to be remedied as the current concern is over renaming the Gulf of Mexico, I learned there is, in fact, a place in Weber County focused on women’s health.

Becky Gutierrez Espinoza, clinical director of Solis Mammography at Ogden Regional, read my column and alerted me that her facility focuses solely on breast health. As such, I could get an appointment in a week versus months. Dreams really do come true — finally, a place solely focused on women’s health. Literally, this is a clinic where from sun up to sun down, staff is screening for breast cancer, helping those with a positive diagnosis and focusing on saving lives. Espinoza informed me that even if someone stops by on a whim, they’ll do their best to get them screened, like a barbershop where walk-ins are welcome. “If we have the time to put a patient in versus coming back tomorrow, they may not come back. It’s then they have the courage and we want them screened,” she said.

I called up Solis and as I made my appointment, the woman on the phone said, “We can squeeze you in next week.” Such an apropos sentence when scheduling a mammogram. Although I’ll insist nothing gets by me, I had no idea Ogden Regional had a Women’s Health Center, with Solis on the first floor. Opened only 11 months here in Ogden, Solis facilities are located across the country from Florida to Arizona, with six facilities in Utah, including Brigham City. Espinoza said, “The state of Utah is among the three lowest states for breast cancer screenings for women 40 and older. I think a lot of that has to do with culture, young mothers and we think we just don’t have time to do it.” Solis aims to have facilities in strip malls throughout Utah as they do in other markets. Maybe one day these life-changing mammograms can be as regular as scheduling a teeth cleaning.

My nerves, even before I stepped into Solis, were as frayed as the oldest towel in my linen closet. Fear of the unknown mixed with trepidation of possible results, equates to irrational reactions. Despite the calming rooms, staff and sticky notes cheering you on, I was scared to get my mammogram. As I shimmied up to the machine, breast splayed on a mini stage created just for this performance, I felt like I was posing for a demented glamour shot. With my photo session over, I realized the pain was less than I expected and the purple modesty cape made me feel like a superhero. A mammogram wasn’t all that bad. The hysteria didn’t hit until my breast got a call back. A very experienced technician warned me before I left that first-timers often have a follow-up because there’s no previous imagining to compare. Even so, I lost my mind when the call came.

My reaction was based upon other health concerns playing out in tandem, including pain in my left breast and chronic shortness of breath. Solis recognized how torturous the time between initial mammogram and follow-up could be, so they quickly got me scheduled. “Empathy,” Espinoza said. “They’re all here (technicians) because they were affected by breast cancer somewhere along the line. You have to specialize in and get certain certifications to do mammography. They’re specializing in mammography to be there for women.”

I’ve known inspiring women who survive breast cancer, somehow handling the diagnosis with grace, even using it as a message for others to get screened. Each mirror inside Solis is adorned with words of comfort, inspiration, heartbreak and motivation from previous patients with both positive and negative outcomes. They used this moment to be brave, share and encourage. As I sat with my inevitable second visit, I thought of those women, questioning whether I had the character to be one of them. I’m lucky. I don’t have to find out. After an ultrasound and biopsy, my tumor was deemed benign. To those women who used this vulnerable moment to help others like me, thank you.

Every now and again, my left boob still hurts. Most likely, my doc says, from the underwire in my bra. When it happens, I don’t lie awake at night worrying over what lurks. My mammogram brought me peace of mind. “You shouldn’t have to wait four months for a screening mammogram. What the anxiety of waiting four months for a mammogram does to a woman is awful,” says Espinoza. Utah mammogram rates are significantly lower than the national average, with only 63% of women over 40 getting screenings. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 69.1% of women over 40 in the country have had a mammogram in the last two years. Their goal is to get that number to 80% by 2030.

Espinoza has spent years in the medical field, witnessing moments of devastation. She knows how important a mammogram is for our health. “For those who are uninsured within our community, you have the Utah Cancer Control Program. Women can see if they qualify to get a free mammogram. I think every woman deserves a mammogram whether insured or not,” she said.

My mammogram results expire in one year. Next October, known as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I will be back into Solis to check on that little benign tumor. Hopefully I’ll get the results I want and give myself another year of peace of mind. As Espinoza said, “Every woman should do it. Six minutes out of your life could save your life.”

You can schedule your mammogram online with Solis at https://tinyurl.com/ya4z7xca or you can call 385-244-0527. You can also go to cancer.utah.gov to find other facilities and whether you qualify for a free mammogram.

Meg Sanders worked in broadcast journalism for over a decade but has since turned her life around to stay closer to home in Ogden. Her three children keep her indentured as a taxi driver, stylist and sanitation worker. In her free time, she likes to read, write, lift weights and go to concerts with her husband of 18 years.

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