The choice is simple. I want to know. - Claxton

What does “multidisciplinary breast care”
mean to me?
The term “multidisciplinary” is used today
in describing the ideal care for cancers
and other complex diseases that benefit
from a team approach to treatment. The
real benefit of multidisciplinary care is that
you can get the opinion of a group of
specialists and can feel more confident
that they have explored all of your
options.
Our certified patient navigator will contact
you to make an appointment at the Breast
Health Center to meet with all the
specialists during a single-appointment
setting. You can hear and discuss all the
options that are available to you. Your
family members are welcome to join you
to meet your breast care team. Our
patient navigator is also there to assist
you with any questions you may have
ranging from, “I really didn’t understand
what the radiation oncologist was saying”
to “how will I pay for all this?”
Breast Health Center
Multidisciplinary Care Team
Ali Gharazoloo, MD
Medical Director,
Radiology
Lucille Alston, MD
Medical Oncologist
Please call us at 315-394-9663 and know
that we are here to meet and serve your
every need.
Karen Galvan, MD
General Surgeon
Alka Srivastava, MD
Medical Oncologist
Himani Singh, MD
Medical Oncologist
The choice is simple.
I want to know.
John Gebert, MD
Radiation Oncologist
We’re here for you, every step of the way
We here at the Breast Health Center at
the Connection for Women understand
that a breast cancer diagnosis can be
stressful and overwhelming. That is why
we offer our multidisciplinary breast care
program to ensure that you will receive
the best breast care you deserve.
Kiri Brandy, MD
General Surgeon
Breast Health Center at the Connection for Women
3 Lyon Place, Suite 301
Ogdensburg, New York 13669
315-394-9663 | www.claxtonhepburn.org
Kay Zimmer, LMSW/CBPN-C
Certified Breast
Patient Navigator
Lori Salazar, RT(R)(M)
Mammography
Supervisor
Coleen LaMere, RDMS
Ultrasound Supervisor
The Breast Health Center at the Connection for Women
The Connection for Women at Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center has expanded its
services. Not only does our Center provide mammography, ultrasound, and bone
densitometry services, but also a specialized multidisciplinary breast care team.
So what does that mean to you?
Come for your yearly mammogram.
Sometimes after having your routine yearly
screening mammogram, you may get that
call from the staff at
the Connection for
Women, that there
was something
“new” found on
your mammogram.
This means that
there is something
on the mammogram
this year that was
not there last year.
This can be a very
scary phone call,
but remember it
does not mean that
you have breast
cancer. It just means that there is something
that requires further investigating.
Sometimes it’s as simple as overlapping
tissue and it just needs some additional
compression to better visualize the area.
Additional images may be needed.
So the radiologist who reads your
mammogram wants to perform some
“additional” views of your mammogram and
he may also want an ultrasound. You come
back into to our radiology department and
the mammography technologist performs
the additional views. These views usually
will feel a little tighter and may be just a bit
more uncomfortable, but the technologist
is getting the
best images of
the “new” area.
You may also be
scheduled for an
ultrasound on the
same day. The
ultrasound exam
is painless and
simple to have done. Some warm gel is
spread on your breast and the technologist
scans over your breast with an ultrasound
probe.
It may be nothing.
It is possible that the area may disappear
on the additional
images and cannot
be seen on the
ultrasound exam. It
may also just be a
simple cyst that is
seen on the
ultrasound. What a
Ali Gharazoloo, MD
relief! Occasionally,
Medical Director, Radiology
it is not a cyst and it
does not disappear on the additional
images. This may require even further
investigation with an MRI or a biopsy.
What if I need a biopsy?
There are a few ways to biopsy your breast.
You can have a vacuum-assisted stereotactic
core biopsy under mammographic guidance.
The area of concern may be best seen on the
ultrasound or an MRI exam, and therefore your
core biopsy would be done under ultrasound
or MRI guidance. A core biopsy is a way to
obtain breast tissue without surgery. These
procedures are done as an outpatient and
usually takes less than an hour.
Some circumstances require the patient to
have to go to the operating room to have the
area removed. The patient then has a needle
localization device placed under
mammographic or ultrasound guidance and
then goes to the operating room where the
surgeon removes the area of concern.
When will I know the results?
After your biopsy in 3-4 days your physician
will contact you with the
results. At this point you
will know if your biopsy was
benign (no cancer) or if it
was a positive finding of
cancer.
Your cancer will be discussed with your
physician and our team of multiple specialists
who are all involved in our multidisciplinary
breast care.
Nationally Accredited
Digital Mammography Units
Convenient Appointments
Dedicated Suites