Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Loudoun Board Chair Records Mammogram Experience to Spur Others to Be Screened

Phyllis Randall said encouraging other women to get mammograms is "a mission God’s placed on my heart"

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Loudoun County's Board Chair, Phyllis Randall recently shared a video of her mammogram experience to convince more women to get the life-saving procedure.

The idea for the mammogram public service announcement came from a Facebook post she shared last fall. In the post, she revealed her mammogram was coming up and that the appointment was overdue. Some women responded by scolding her, others asked questions about the procedure.

“A lot more women came on and said, ‘I’ve never had a mammogram before, I haven’t had one in 10 years, I’m 58 and don’t know what to expect, do they hurt, are they expensive, are they, you know, tell me what the process is,’” Randall said.

Mammograms use X-ray pictures of the breast to detect early signs of breast cancer, according to the CDC. The American Cancer Society said women should  have the choice of getting a mammogram at age 40 and that all should begin the screenings at age 45.

After reading questions on her post about the cancer-preventing procedure, Randall decided to show and tell the process involved in getting a mammogram. She arranged for a video photographer to come to her appointment in October.

From that appointment, two videos were created. The first is a shorter three-minute version that was first shown at a Board of Supervisors meeting. The second, is a video of the mammogram itself.

News4's Doreen Gentzler reports on how a nonprofit covers the costs of exams for women in need and provides free transportation to help save lives.

Though the video is discreet, Randall said she had a few moments of second-guessing her decision.

“At the moment the doors close in and there is a camera crew in the room with you, while you are getting your breast exam, it was uncomfortable,” she said. “But if it encourages one woman to go get her mammogram, then goal accomplished.”

In much of the video, Randall asks her doctor, Gloria Ivey-Crowe questions about how long the screening takes and if it is painful. She also highlights the consequences of failing to get regular screenings.

“Women of color, especially Black women, have a much higher rate of dying..." Randall said in the video.

“Black women tend to go and get things later. They tend to go to their providers later...” Ivey-Crowe said in the video.

According to Randall, her PSA had positive results the night it was played at the board meeting.

“A man stops me, and he said, ‘I just called my wife, to ask her, had she done her mammogram yet and she told me no,' and he said, ‘I told my wife, make that phone call and get in there right now,’” Randall said.

The PSA, Randall said, will not be her final word about mammograms.

“It’s just something that I feel very strongly about, and it’s kind of a mission God’s placed in my heart,” Randall said.

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