"Every moment counts when you're facing a serious illness"

I have many friends who have had breast cancer, and, because of that experience, each year I became anxious when it came to be time for my own annual mammogram. Recently, when I went to Johns Hopkins for my yearly executive physical and mammogram I got results that concerned me greatly. My mammogram showed scattered calcifications in the left breast.

I scheduled my biopsy for six days later (due to a weekend and holiday in between), during which time my doctor requested an MRI before the biopsy was performed. The doctor was unable to schedule an appointment before my biopsy, so PinnacleCare used contacts at Johns Hopkins to schedule my  MRI the same day and before my scheduled biopsy.

PinnacleCare stepped into high gear to quickly get me the information I needed to make important treatment decisions.

In the meantime, PinnacleCare prepared a detailed description of what to expect the day of the MRI and biopsy in order to reassure a very anxious member. That day, I  had an MRI, ultrasound and biopsy, and my pathology results came back positive for ductal carcinoma in situ.

With that diagnosis in hand, PinnacleCare went into high gear: I shared my results with my PinnacleCare team at 10:30 am, and within minutes I had an appointment with a surgical oncologist that day at 1:30 pm. One of my advisors drove to Washington, DC to attend the appointment, which was greatly appreciated. Two other appointments were scheduled within that week with two other leading surgical oncologists at Johns Hopkins and at Mercy Hospital, providing me with the information I needed to make important treatment decisions.

Breast cancer gets a great deal of attention during October which is breast cancer awareness month, but taking proactive steps to track breast health is a year-round job. Scheduling routine screening mammograms can help detect cancer at its earliest stages when it is most treatable, so remember not to allow the distractions of life to keep you from scheduling these potentially life-saving tests.

To learn more about PinnacleCare, click here or call 877-241-7041.