By Mario Montalvo/ne news editor

Texas Health Resources will offer free mammogram screenings on NE Campus with its Mobile Health Unit 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Oct. 6.

“We are able to bring a life-saving screening to women in the community, and we make it convenient for them to do that,” said Rosemary Galdiano of Texas Health Resources. “It’s the same as what you would get in a breast center.”

The American Cancer Society recommends women get yearly mammograms after age 40. Early detection gives women more time and options when it comes to treatment, Galdiano said.

NW administrative assistant Becky Staats is a breast cancer survivor. Staats was 44 when she was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS, a common type of breast cancer that starts inside the milk ducts. It was detected early during her fourth yearly mammogram.

“I was a single mom, and I was really frightened,” she said. “But they were able to catch this before it was invasive.”

There were no lumps, Staats said. It was so small it looked like “salt specks” on the mammogram.

Doctors caught the cancer in its early stage when they noticed a change from her previous mammogram.

On Sept. 28, she celebrated seven years of being cancer-free.

She strongly urges other women over 40 to get yearly mammograms, keep track of records, make healthy lifestyle choices and maintain faith and a positive attitude.

The American Cancer Society estimates that there is a little less than a 1 in 8 chance that a woman will develop breast cancer in her lifetime.

Staats hopes sharing her story will help people realize that it can happen to anyone, she said.

To see if you qualify for a mammogram screening or to make an appointment, call Texas Health Resources at 1-877-847-9355.