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One in eight women will be diagnosed with bad cancer throughout their lifetime, according to the American Cancer Society, but thanks to an innovative bad cancer program at Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center, women receive an all-encompbading bad care experience with a personal touch.
The hospital’s bad care program, which has been providing care to patients in the community for 14 years, is made up of a number of specialty services – from bad imaging, bad surgery, genetic counseling, cancer support services, oncology services, and patient navigation – all of which are led by Piedmont Athens Regional’s bad surgeon, Cody Gunn, M.D., and Breast Health Center manager, Connie Phelps, RN.
“Our bad care program offers a unique and comprehensive panel of services provided by a team dedicated to positive outcomes for every patient,” Phelps said. “From the moment a patient schedules an appointment at one of our Breast Health Center locations, our staff guides them through each step to ensure we’re providing support in every way and each phone call and visit from there is seamless.”
And for every patient diagnosed with bad cancer, Piedmont Athens Regional offers a multidisciplinary case review to ensure expert coordinated care.
The hospital’s Breast Health Center, the only nationally-accredited bad center in Northeast Georgia, uses the most modern screening technology, focusing on early detection.
This technology includes the tomosynthesis 3-dimensional imaging units, which is available at all three Breast Health Center locations in Piedmont Athens Regional’s main hospital campus in Athens, Piedmont’s Oconee Health Campus in Watkinsville, Ga., and Piedmont’s Royston Health Campus in Royston, Ga.
“Breast tomosynthesis allows doctors to examine bad tissue one layer at a time, building what is essentially a 3-D mammogram,” Phelps said. “3-D bad imaging produces a series of contiguous, thin slices of bad tissue with minimal distracting overlap, allowing a better image of the bad interior and improving chances of early detection.”
When bad cancer is detected early, most patients have a better chance of being treated successfully, according to Phelps.
In addition to offering the most up-to-date screening tools, patients are also met with support services dedicated to helping patients understand a bad cancer diagnosis and next steps, including cancer treatment options.
“There are two full-time nurse navigators, and we go through great lengths to be there for as much as a patient needs us to be, caring for the physical, psychological, and social needs that come with a cancer diagnosis,” said Susan Irwin, RN, nurse navigator at Piedmont Athens Regional’s Breast Health Center.
The center’s nurse navigators, Irwin and Elizabeth Conway, RN, are often with patients from the beginning until the finish of a diagnosis. “We help people navigate the whole system, diagnosis or not,” Conway said.
For women with a strong family history of bad cancer, Piedmont Athens Regional’s High Risk Breast Cancer Clinic also works closely with the Breast Health Center to help determine the best plan of action for their future.
“Piedmont Athens Regional’s bad care program offers a number of different services, all of which have the same goal: to help our patients and provide high-quality, patient-centered care to every person that steps through our doors,” Phelps said. “We’re here from routine screenings to long after treatment is over.”
For more information about services offered Piedmont Athens Regional’s bad care program, visit piedmont.org.
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