BILLINGS— A Billings breast radiologist and her former breast cancer patient are urging women to get regular breast screenings.
Breast radiologist at Billing Clinic, Tara Bowman Seitz, MD, said one in eight women will get breast cancer in their life.
Watch to see why breast screenings are a priority for the doctor and patient:
“I just think it's important for everybody, regardless of their family history, high risk or average risk, to start screening mammograms at the age of 40,” she said.
Former breast cancer patient Connie Clark agrees. She never thought she would get the disease, but because of regular breast screening, doctors caught cancer and prevented it from progressing.
“I mean, everything indicated that this little spot or tumor or whatever it was was negative,” said Clark, recalling MRI biopsy results that came back negative.
She said Bowman Seitz called her back into the clinic after analyzing the results.
“She said something's not right. Just doesn't look right, doesn't feel right to me. We gotta go further,” said Clark.
Clark was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021 and underwent surgery and eight weeks of radiation.
“You had to go every day for eight weeks and lay still on the table. So it was time-consuming. Radiation makes you tired. It was a long journey,” she said.
Clark now encourages women to get regular breast screenings.
The breast cancer survivor spoke Wednesday at the grand opening of the Reger Family High-Risk Breast Clinic, which is the only clinic in Montana and Wyoming that specializes in breast screenings for patients who are more prone to the cancer.
“This is a beautiful center. I think that we will help a lot of people. And if we can find cancers at an early stage rather than later stage, it's gonna be amazing,” she said.
The clinic is also offering free mammograms and breast exams. Click here to learn more.
