Huron Regional Medical Center

Partners in Wellness The SD Women's Expo brings together fashion, food, fun and the latest healthcare information in a celebration of all it means to be a woman. Huron Regional Medical Center will be on-site with healthcare screenings, informational booths and more. Women wear many hats: mother, teacher, nurse, caretaker, wife and more. The SD Women's Expo is all about taking a day for yourself to learn new things, relax, and recharge mentally and physically in the company of friends and family. No Excuses Mammo in Action It had been a few years since Brenda Parisien's last mammogram when she stopped by Huron Regional Medical Center's booth at the SD Women's Expo with her daughter Ashley last year. Left to right: Briana Ege, Brenda's twin sister, who has been her partner through her cancer journey, Donna Haigh and Brenda Parisien. "I used to be really good about getting annual mammograms, but nothing wrong ever happened, so I figured, 'ehh,'" says Parisien, who was 60 at the time. "I never felt a lump, just some dimpling. I didn't think much of it, but I had been feeling kind of tired, and I thought I might have a thyroid issue." Parisien's longtime friend and high school classmate Donna Haigh, RT(R)(M), was working at an expo booth promoting HRMC's "No Excuses Mammo" program. She showed Parisien breast models and gave her a $50-off coupon for a mammogram. "Different women have different breast structures, so it's important to go through the models," says Haigh, who started HRMC's Day for Women (now called SD Women's Expo) in 2000 as a way to promote breast cancer awareness. "Also, women may have symptoms they do not associate with breast cancer." showed abnormalities, she underwent a total mastectomy to remove a 3.5-centimeter tumor. "You think you'd feel the tumor, but it was elongated in a duct," Parisien says. "So I wasn't identifying the tumor as a lump. I wouldn't have thought it was anything to worry about if Donna hadn't shown me the models and given me more information about breast changes that can indicate potential cancer." She has been undergoing chemotherapy at HRMC and is on a hormonal blocker. "They saved my life at HRMC," Parisien says. "I view it as a blessing from God. If I hadn't gone to the Expo, I probably wouldn't have gotten a mammogram and wouldn't have known anything was wrong. All women need to keep up with their yearly mammograms, even if they feel fine." Timely Discovery Schedule your yearly mammogram by calling (605) 353-6246, or stop by the HRMC medical imaging booth at the SD Women's Expo to schedule your mammogram and receive a discount coupon. When Parisien went for her "No Excuses Mammo," it turned out something had happened since her last breast cancer screening. Two weeks after her mammogram Visit Our Imaging Booth at the Expo Huron Regional Medical Center will distribute $50-off "No Excuses Mammo" coupons for digital mammography to women older than 40 who have never had a mammogram or haven't had one in at least two years. All women can receive a $10 off coupon. w w w.huronregional.org "Women can help take control of their own health, and we want to help them do that," says Donna Haigh, RT(R)(M), who works in the HRMC imaging department. "Early detection of breast cancer exponentially increases our chances of surviving and moving on with our lives." welloneconnection 5

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