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Another Covid Fear: Delays in screening for breast cancer

Maimonides MD promotes breast exams with outreach to immigrants

April 21, 2021 Raanan Geberer
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For the past year and more, COVID-19 has been the main medical problem the world has been dealing with. However, that doesn’t mean that patients should neglect other health matters.

This problem is being acutely felt in the areas of breast exams and mammograms, says Dr. Christina Giuliano, director of the Maimonides-affiliated Erminia Rivera Breast Imaging Center of Excellence near the border of Sunset Park and Bay Ridge.

The last year, Dr. Giuliano says, “showed a drastic decrease in breast exams because of the coronavirus. Many patients were afraid to come in because clinics were closed, hospitals were closed.”

However, she said, patients should know that it’s safe to come back. “Most of the clinics are open. We’re cleaning everything. Patients have masks, waiting rooms have separation.” 

There’s a danger that women who miss their screenings for two or three years will discover problems only in the later stages, she said. “If you’re doing screenings routinely, putting them off for six weeks is not a big deal. If you’re off by two or three years, it’s really important.”

One problem that can lead to misinformation, she said, is that COVID injections frequently lead to temporary swellings of the lymph nodes, or glands, which are found in different parts of the body, including under the arms.

Many patients are afraid to come in for screenings with these swellings, thinking that the staff will find them to be malignant. However, says Dr. Giuliano, that’s not true. “If we see this three or four weeks after a vaccine, we know what it is, you wouldn’t worry about it,” she said.

Those who are nervous about scheduling mammograms too close to COVID injections should schedule them either before the first injection or six to eight weeks after the second, she says.  However, she says, “If you’ve missed a year or two, we don’t want people who already have an appointment to change it.”

Giuliano also talked about the Breast Imaging Center, at 745 46th Street, and the diverse population that it serves, include Asian-Americans, Latinos and Hasidic Jews. 

“We do lots of outreach to different communities,” she said. “I’ve had meeting with the rabbis. I’ve spoken to synagogues, churches, gone out into the community. We use interpretive services several times a day if we don’t have someone on staff.” Many technologists, for example, speak Russian, she said. “We have videos that speak to patients in different languages.”

By the way, there are some men who get breast cancer. They are less than 1 percent of the total population who get breast cancer. Dr. Giuliano said they treat these men, and they are able to come to the clinic “discreetly.”

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