LA CROSSE, Wis. — Victoria Mueller has been cancer-free for the past eight years. She found a lump in her breast at the age of 38. The next two years would be a constant battle for survival.
“I was numb and I don’t know how I made my drive home,” she said, after her unexpected diagnosis. “I was at an appointment by myself and was just dumbfounded.”
Dr. Paula Gill is a medical oncologist at the Mayo Clinic in La Crosse. She says breast cancer risk goes up as women age. The bad news is screenings have decreased significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Epic Health Research Network reports a 94% drop in both breast and cervical cancer screenings from March to May. Colon cancer screenings had dropped 86% in that same time.
JAMA reports breast cancer diagnoses declined almost 52%.
“The way to mitigate that is to have your concerns addressed, to make sure you feel safe and your provider feels it’s safe for you to come in and have your screenings done,” Dr. Gill said. “If you need to delay, talk about the timeline for that how long is it reasonable for you to delay for.”
Victoria says she’s thankful she did not wait.
“If you’re just out of sorts or you think something doesn’t feel right, go,” she said. "It doesn’t hurt to push and make them do it because you know your body.”
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November 11, 2020 at 11:39PM
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