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    MNBG-East Task Force MED provides breast cancer awareness seminar

    MNBG-East Task Force MED provides breast cancer awareness seminar

    Photo By Master Sgt. Kelly Simon | Capt. Tracey Lyons-White and Capt. Stephanie Schenk posed for a photo with the women...... read more read more

    CAMP BONDSTEEL, KOSOVO

    11.30.2017

    Story by Staff Sgt. Kelly Simon 

    KFOR Regional Command East

    CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo - Medical professionals from Multinational Battle Group-East’s Task Force MED provided a breast cancer awareness seminar at the Deshmoret e Vitise primary school in Vitina Nov. 30.
    “Early detection is key,” Dr. Kadolli H. Vjollca, a physician with the Mother Teresa Health Center in Vitina explained.
    The seminar is part of an initiative that Vjollca kicked off in support of women’s health. Nearly 30 women attended the event in Vitina.
    She thanked the MNBG-East Soldiers before turning the floor over to Capt. Tracey Lyons-White, a physician assistant with TF MED.
    Lyons-White spoke to the women through an interpreter, going over facts, figures and statistics about breast cancer in Kosovo and around the globe. She discussed a variety of ways women can reduce their risk of developing breast cancer, including quitting smoking, using non-hormone birth control methods, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
    The attendees asked questions about alternatives to hormone birth control, hereditary risk factors, and when they should consult their doctor for screenings.
    “We can’t control our genetics,” Lyons-White explained, “but we can control external factors to protect ourselves.”
    Lyons-White added that doing regular self-exams greatly increases the chance of finding potentially cancerous lumps while they’re more treatable.
    “Most breast cancer is caught by the patient during a self-exam,” Lyons-White told the group.
    After the presentation portion of the seminar Lyons-White and Capt. Stephanie Schenk, the TF MED chief nurse, showed the women proper techniques for administering a self-breast exam. They used a combination of slides and demonstration to highlight how and when is best to conduct self-exams.
    The normal progression of diagnosis starts when the patient notices an abnormality during a self-exam, Schenk explained. Then the patient goes to see their doctor, receive an ultrasound, and if necessary is referred for a mammogram.
    The Joint Regional Detachment-South Liaison Monitoring Team, from the 82nd Airborne Division, facilitated the connection between Vjollca and TF MED. The planning started in mid-October for the seminar.
    Throughout November Vjollca’s clinic offered up to five free breast ultrasounds per day. Although her clinic isn’t equipped to perform mammography services, they are able to preemptively diagnose cases of breast cancer and refer the patients to additional evaluation in Gjilan, Lupian or Pristina.
    Women who are diagnosed with breast cancer are eligible to receive free treatment at properly equipped hospitals in Kosovo that are able to perform mastectomies, provide chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
    “The goal is prevention and early diagnoses,” Schenk said after the seminar.

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 11.30.2017
    Date Posted: 12.20.2017 09:01
    Story ID: 259417
    Location: CAMP BONDSTEEL, ZZ
    Hometown: FORT CAVAZOS, TX, US
    Hometown: PEORIA, AZ, US

    Web Views: 70
    Downloads: 0

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