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Rotarians disappointed with turnout for free cancer screenings

By Dollie Gull

CAIRO — It was an overlooked opportunity, for whatever reason.

Cairo Rotarians who sponsored a May 27 visit by the Mammogram Van of the Healthcare Consortium of Columbia-Greene County were disappointed that more women did not take advantage of the free mammograms offered. The van was located at Slater’s Great American shopping center in Cairo from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.

Each year the van makes its visit offering free tests for those without health care.

By noon that day, only 10 women had taken the opportunity to receive free cancer tests.

“It seems a shame that more women did not avail themselves of the offer,” said Suzanne Oldakowski of Purling’s Bavarian Manor Inn and Restaurant. Had it not been for a similar test seven years ago, she expects she “wouldn’t be here.

“I’d be dead,” she stated.

In the United States, breast cancer is one of the most common cancers among women, second to lung cancer. It has sharply increased in incidence since the 1970s and killed 502,000 women worldwide in 2005.

“The test is, undoubtedly, a bit of discomfort, but compared to the increasing chance of coming down with breast cancer, it saves lives,” said Oldakowski. “This test saved my life.”

She admits she had to undergo both chemotherapy and radiation therapy to kill her cancer.

“But it worked. Had it not been for early detection, my life — and those of my husband and children — would have turned out very differently,” Oldakowski added.

“The community was wonderfully supportive of me during my illness,” she recounted. “They stood beside me and helped me. I will always be thankful for that.”

It was through Oldakowski’s suggestion to Cairo Rotarians that the Mammogram Van comes each year for its visits to Greene County, offering free tests that women otherwise might not be able to afford when they have no health insurance.

“The consortium charges just what anyone’s insurance will pay for the test,” she explained. Oldakowski, Maria Castellano and Roberta Arrigo, all members of the Cairo Rotary Club, stood by the van in an effort to encourage women who stopped to shop at Slater’s to undergo the brief test.

“We just wish more women had taken the very few minutes it takes to undergo the test, which is not invasive,” explained Darcy Connor and Lynn Sanders, who accompanied the van and are employees of the Healthcare Consortium, headquartered in Hudson.

“Early detection is the best prevention,” said Connor, who explained that the Columbia-Greene Healthy People Partnership is a program of the New York State Cancer Services Program.

The consortium offers, in addition to the free mammograms to eligible women, pap smears, colorectal and other cancer screenings, along with free HPV vaccines. It also offer free prostate cancer education materials to men, along with other kinds of medical screenings for both men and women.

For information regarding the consortium’s programs, call 822-8741.

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