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The Rose breast cancer diagnostic center’s co-founder Dorothy Gibbons is urging people not to avoid getting tests and services. “Put simply, delaying testing is an invitation to death,” she says. “Breast cancer isn’t going to stop and no amount of wishful thinking will make it go away.
lessPhoto: Courtesy Photo / Courtesy PhotoThe Rose breast cancer diagnostic center’s co-founder Dorothy Gibbons is urging people not to avoid getting tests and services. “Put simply, delaying testing is an invitation to death,” she says.
... more
The Rose breast cancer diagnostic center’s co-founder Dorothy Gibbons is urging people not to avoid getting tests and services. “Put simply, delaying testing is an invitation to death,” she says. “Breast cancer isn’t going to stop and no amount of wishful thinking will make it go away.
lessThe Rose breast cancer diagnostic center’s co-founder Dorothy Gibbons is urging people not to avoid getting tests and services. “Put simply, delaying testing is an invitation to death,” she says.
... moreThe Rose breast cancer diagnostic center has a message for those postponing being tested because of fear of the Harris County surge in COVID-19 cases.
“Cancer doesn’t stop for a pandemic,” said Dorothy Gibbons, the groups CEO and its co-founder along with Pasadena resident Dr. Dixie Melillo.
The pandemic did lead to the facility closing its offices, which are at 12700 N. Featherwood, Suite 260 and at 6575 W. Loop South, Suite 275, Bellaire, for six weeks starting in March. But The Rose reopened in May and has since continued to provide all its essential services, such as screening, biopsies and evaluation.
The decision to close then was based on the nation-wide shortage of (personal protective equipment) supplies, said Gibbons.
“Even then, we knew that diagnostic procedures, especially biopsies, were essential services,” she said.
The Rose, founded in 1986, provides breast health care to women, regardless of their ability to pay. The organization accept patients with insurance coverage. Those without insurance can pay with cash at a reduced rate, or if they meet income qualifications (200 percent of the poverty level) can be sponsored by the group and receive services at no cost.
Group aims to stay open
As coronavirus cases spike in the area, Gibbons said The Rose will remain open as long as it can provide a safe environment for patients and staff and maintain a robust supply of PPEs.
“No one has a crystal ball … and there are way too many uncertainties in our world to make any absolute declarations,” she said. “The current spike is more than alarming and the predictions of its continuation are sobering.
“I absolutely understand why women are afraid to have testing, especially if testing means going into a hospital or a facility attached to a hospital. Our wellness environment, coupled with the safety precautions which are evident from the time a person walks through our doors, means there is no reason for any woman to postpone being tested.”
The Rose’s strict adherence to Centers for Disease Control recommendations may alter how and when The Rose sees patients, but its services remain comprehensive.
“Our patients understand that those recommendations have impacted scheduling and the number of patients we are able to serve each day,” Gibbons said. “Ensuring social distancing between patients combined with enhanced cleaning and sanitation of equipment takes additional time, and we will not compromise those steps in any way.”
When diagnosing breast cancer, not unlike other health issues related to chronic and potentially life-threatening health issues, timing is key. The longer a patient waits or puts off getting that lump in her breast evaluated, the higher the risk of complications or spread.
“The ultimate danger to delaying testing is that the cancer will go undiagnosed for too long and result in more advanced and serious stages of the disease,” Gibbons said. “Late-stage cancer reduces a patient’s options and increases the chance that she will die from the disease. At the very least, she will need more aggressive treatment, perhaps for a longer period, all of which will hopefully stop the growth of the cancer but will also take a huge toll on her immune system and threaten her ability to return to a productive and joyful life.”
In May, less than two months after the initial shutdown, those in the healthcare industry were seeing the effects of not seeking treatment or testing for a variety of issues.
Avoidance of seeking health care because of COVID-19 fears was creating a health crisis within a crisis, according to Dr. Ambica Sandhir, emergency room physician at CHI St. Luke’s Health Patients Medical Center in Pasadena.
Sandhir citing a distinct decrease in patients seeking treatment in the ER for health conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart issues in the following weeks after the shutdown throughout the nation in March.
At St. Luke’s (in Pasadena), the hospital has seen an increase in patients who are dead on arrival by ambulance over the last three months, which Sandhir attributes to pandemic-related anxieties.
Sandhir braced for the short and long-term effects of postponing or neglecting personal health because of COVID-19. Those fears are not proportionate to the reality of a healthcare facility environment like St. Luke’s, Sandhir said.
“I’m probably safer in an ER room than at the grocery store,” she said.
‘An invitation to death’
The Rose staff, said Gibbons, is a close-knit group and has been able to control its environment, painstakingly social distancing itself from outside exposure to the virus. Half the staff is working remotely, with others working at the sites to do mammograms and biopsies.
“We have a full staff of technologists and physicians providing care, and support staff has to be onsite to take temperatures, welcome patients and handle necessary paperwork,” she said. “Next to patient safety, I worry most about my employees. I know they are aware of all the steps we’ve put into place for enhanced safety.
“They are the ones who are actually doing the cleaning, enforcing social distancing and assuring that everyone who enters the building for any reason is masked.”
Postponing a visit is an unchecked concern about cancer, said Gibbons, and that can have devastating effects.
“Put simply, delaying testing is an invitation to death,” she said. “Breast cancer isn’t going to stop and no amount of wishful thinking will make it go away. Debating the risks of going out against the likelihood that a lump isn’t cancer is dangerous. Waiting too long is fatal.”
yorozco@hcnonline.com
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Breast cancer group’s plea: Don’t avoid testing now - Chron
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