Dorothy: [00:00:00] Can storytelling empower women to navigate health care challenges? Fellow podcaster Reena Freedman Watts joins us to talk about her journey from being a TV producer, to radio, to podcasting, and she shares the power of telling stories. We’ll explore how these skills translate to advocating for women’s health, including the challenges of navigating mammograms in breast cancer care. Reena shares personal insights, including her mother’s private battle with breast cancer.
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Let’s Talk About Your Breast, a different kind of podcast presented to you by The Rose Breast Center of Excellence and a Texas treasurer. [00:01:00] You’re going to hear frank discussions about tough topics, and you’re going to learn why knowing about your breast could save your life.
I am so delighted to have Reena Friedman Watts with us today. And I, I was. I can’t express this enough. I feel like I’m in the presence of a celebrity. Thank you, Reena, for being with us.
Reena: Oh, that’s the best intro ever. Thank you so much, Dorothy. I’m excited to be here.
Dorothy: We were introduced by my producer and I was introduced to your podcast, which is absolutely fascinating, funny, educational, all the things you want to be in as a podcaster. And it’s called Better Call Daddy, right?
Reena: Yes, you got it.
Dorothy: And you’ve got just a ton of different kinds of stories. But I want you to just tell our listeners what brought you to this point.
Reena: Yeah, my dad has always been my biggest support system. And I feel like in the world that we’re living in, everybody [00:02:00] needs that. Everybody needs an encourager. And my whole idea behind it was like, You know, my dad supported me through the Jerry Springer chapter is where I started my career and my Hollywood chapter and then becoming more religious and then getting married and then trying entrepreneurship. And he was always giving me great advice.
So I thought that maybe I could share some of his advice with others. And then. Other daddy’s girls could relate to it, other inspirational fathers, anybody that was kind of missing a dad in their own life might be able to get some advice from mine, and then also add to our wisdom reading, because not only does my dad have good advice, but everyday people have good advice too, and it’s a project that I’ve taken on with my dad in my 40s, and we’ve both grown a lot from doing it.
Dorothy: Oh, yes. Yes, doing this work really makes you grow.
Reena: Doesn’t it?
Dorothy: And, and you know, I’m a lot older than 40, but after 38 years of running The Rose, this has been the [00:03:00] most challenging, fun, uh, something you look forward to doing. You meet different people and it’s just amazing. It re, it restores that feeling of the goodness of people. Over and over again, I hear stories and I’m just, I’m like, gosh, I don’t know if I could have done that. I don’t know if I could have gotten through that type of challenge. And, and it just makes you very humble.
Reena: It is extremely rewarding. And my dad even says, if you’re just doing it for me, that’s reason enough.
Dorothy: Really? Wow.
Reena: Can you imagine? I mean, that takes the pressure off.
Dorothy: Some, some dads that might not be true, but it does give it a different permission, a different type of permission to be yourself.
Reena: And that’s what I needed to be honest. Um, even in college, I got a singing scholarship to college and I used to love to sing in the shower and I used to love to sing in choir, but when I actually had to sing solo or in front of large crowds, I didn’t [00:04:00] love it so much.
And I got asked to sing The Star Spangled Banner at a basketball game in front of my college, and I brought my little sister up there and made her hold my hand, and the podcasting with my dad kind of feels like the same thing, you know, if you have somebody who knows you and who believes in you and wants the good for you, that’s why I always tell people if you’re going to podcast with somebody in the beginning, pick people who already like you, you know, that’ll give you some grace, because you I can mess up in front of my dad. I can be myself in front of my dad and people feel that. So you want to pick guests that you can be yourself around.
Dorothy: But Reena, even at a young age, you knew you needed support.
Reena: Yep.
Dorothy: You knew you needed your little sister up there. Now that’s, that’s kind of amazing. But also what an honor that you were asked to do that.
Reena: And I felt that with Freddie too, your producer. We met at a local event, and we both have a love of podcasting and radio and that medium. And I believe when you team up with other creatives that your [00:05:00] talents can bring out even more talent together.
Dorothy: That’s so true. We’re talking about Freddy Cruz. And. Um. My listeners have heard me brag on him all over the place. Of course, he doesn’t like it at all. So tell us a little bit about your background with Jerry Springer, with that show.
Reena: Yeah, it was my first job out of college and I actually went to go interview at WGN right out of working for an NPR station on campus at Purdue. And they had a connection through the alumni office, and I drove up to Chicago with stars in my eyes, and then I didn’t get the job, but I saw that Jerry Springer was looking for an intern in the same courtyard.
So I saw a flyer, and I walked across to NBC Tower, and I was like, I’m here for the intern coordinator, you know, and I, I got through security. This is pre 9 11, and they asked me when I was graduating, which was only a couple weeks from then, and I ended up starting as an intern, and. It was the time of my life.
I mean, I learned [00:06:00] how to book those stories, how to brief those stories. I hung out with the guests. They didn’t feel that far fetched from where I came from. I was from Kentucky. I was kind of, like, working on a show that I used to watch, you know? So.
Dorothy: Oh my gosh. What a, what an achievement.
Reena: It was, and you know what? I got dad’s permission. He thought it was cool. When a guy I was dating in college was like, you wouldn’t work there, would you? I was like, well, he’s clearly not for me.
Dorothy: True. And so, and you were in, in that arena for a minute, for how many years?
Reena: I worked there for two years, and then the start of a third season, and to be honest, after hearing this, relationships that, uh, weren’t working so well again and again and again and again, it starts to kind of creep in and you’re like, man, you’re like, are any of these going to work out?
It starts to wear on you after a bit. I mean, it was fun and I, it got me into the Producers Guild, but I decided to move to LA kind of at the beginning of reality [00:07:00] TV. And I got to work for VH1, and MTV, and go on the road, and work as a field interviewer, and I learned a lot from working at Springer. I learned what made a good story, I learned how to talk people into doing crazy things on national TV, and I felt like those skills were transferable, and they were.
Dorothy: Oh, yes, yes. With everything you’ve done.
Reena: It actually even works in the corporate world. What I found out is like if you make people your friend and you make people like you, they’ll show up at your events, they’ll buy your products, they’ll network with you. It really, it’s transferable to telecom, to the finance space, to entrepreneurship, all those things.
Dorothy: But you really can’t make people like you unless you care about them, right?
Reena: That’s very true too. That is true. It has to be authentic. It can’t just be for a sale.
Dorothy: And what a, what a, uh, learning ground you had to see how those relationships could go, you know, [00:08:00] could really go fall apart. And, uh, What, wow, that was an education in itself.
Reena: I kept up with some of those guests though, too. That, that was something that I actually had a hard time with, is like, every week we had to book three to five stories, and sometimes you actually liked the people after the show and cared about what happened to them afterwards, and they wanted to keep up with me for, you know, years at a time, and I’m like, I gotta book the next show, like, unless you know somebody, like, you know, I was going through hundreds of calls a week.
You know, we would get 1,500 calls a week and I had to call all those people back. So.
Dorothy: It was a good thing you were young.
Reena: Exactly. I always say that I, I have my old intern stayed on the Jerry Springer show till the very end. So she was there for close to 20 years. And then she went on to the Steve Wilco show. He, Steve was the security guard of Jerry and he ended up getting a pilot around the time that Jerry was on Dancing with the Stars. And his show now has been on, [00:09:00] I don’t even know how many seasons. It’s, it’s been probably close to a decade and she has just worked on those two shows her whole career.
It’s, it’s, I don’t know how she does that as a mom. I think her husband stays home. Have you thought about having her on your podcast? I should, I should. I still keep up with her. Her husband was actually my dog trainer, but the office was the show as well. Like, there were a lot of people that got married from the show, there were a lot of relationships that happened in the office, and reality TV was like that too.
Dorothy: Oh, yeah.
Reena: Because you spend so much time with these people. I actually heard Freddy on another interview saying that he doesn’t date people from the office. It’s not a good idea. Two Jerry Springer producers under one roof doesn’t work.
Dorothy: Oh, so did you just wake up one day knowing you wanted to do a podcast?
Reena: Okay. So the podcast was definitely an evolution. I knew that I, I was a story junkie cause I loved finding a good story when I worked in radio. I [00:10:00] loved finding a good story when I worked at Springer. I went on to work in court TV for about five years where, I had young kids and I would nurse a kid, drop them off at a babysitter for four years, go to small claims, find really good stories, send them back to Hollywood, and I would get such a rise when I found the best stories and I got them before other shows.
So I had like this news junkie, like, bit that I was always chasing stories for some reason. I found that to be super interesting. It was kind of like finding a needle in a haystack. And I I believe that that was a little bit ignited working at the npr station because you know, you have all these stories coming across the newswire and they’re like, ooh How can I edit this to make this like way more juicy and interesting?
So it started there with my love of a story and then after working on some reality shows and kind of like getting those stories to like unfold in real life, I, I really loved that. And I worked in so many different parts of production. [00:11:00] Like I worked as a field interviewer. I worked as an associate editor.
I worked as a post production supervisor. So I kind of, I worked in casting. I, I worked in so many different areas. So I kind of, learned from each one of those like little pieces that I liked and it just fits so nicely into the podcasting space. I was like, wow, I can book the stories I’m interested in. I can edit them the way I like them, you know. You don’t have to report to a studio. So it’s really unbiased. You’re in charge of the edit.
Dorothy: Right, right. Yes.
Reena: That really appealed to me.
Dorothy: Oh, it would. That’s fascinating. Now, you’re, you’re at like 300 plus episodes?
Reena: Close to 400 now. Yeah.
Dorothy: Close to 400. Going into your fourth season or?
Reena: I am. I’m in my fourth season. So, my goodness, you’ve been doing it a while. I’ve been doing it a while and before I started my own show, I co hosted another podcast, which is kind of what like reignited it, that [00:12:00] spark in me where I was like, Oh, people are doing this now. Wow. You can create your own platform and that can lead to really crazy, amazing things.
So I co hosted a show where I was like casting guests for them. And then I saw their numbers start to rise. And then they asked me if I wanted, first it went from casting, then it went to co hosting, That show ended because one of the co host’s wives like had a baby and they went through postpartum and had some personal issues and they ended up closing down the show, but I was like super excited by what was happening with that show.
Then I went on to work for a couple top podcasters and I was like, whoa, these people are getting like a half a million downloads a month. These people are putting together events with 350 people. These people are able to get 15 sponsors for their events. So then I was like, wow, what if instead of me working for them, I did this for me?
Dorothy: And it’s worked out. My gosh.
Reena: And it’s worked out. It’s led to so many unbelievable opportunities and getting to interview people that I admire [00:13:00] and never thought that I would even be able to get a hold of.
Dorothy: So, what tips would you give me? Like, I’m still a novice at this. What, what would, what are two or three things you’d tell me to do?
Reena: I would say, and I recommend this honestly to anyone who wants to get better at like solidifying their story. Everybody that you collaborate with is going to ask you questions differently. So I would say guest on other people’s shows, because even though you know your story, and even though you’re great at interviewing others, flipping it and being in the hot seat is something totally different.
Dorothy: Why you are right. I’ve only done that a couple of three times and, and, you know, I’m used to going on TV and having that two minute spot or doing a radio show, you know, it’s very limited. But when I’m on a guest on another show, it is, it’s scary. And they do ask the most, they, they don’t ask the questions I would ask at [00:14:00] all.
Interesting. All right. What’s, what’s tip number two?
Reena: So I would definitely recommend that. And then you can mix it up even further. Like you said, you know, it’s a lot different to do a 30 second spot, a two minute spot, a 10 minute interview. See if maybe you can be a part of a conference where you interview people live, where you’re totally unprepared.
Dorothy: Oh, that, no, I don’t know if I could do that. I, I, I think Freddie would agree. Okay. I I’m trying to learn here. So that’s step number two.
Reena: That’s next level. That’s next level. I volunteered for a couple of conferences here in Houston, just to be a part of a media booth and whoever comes to the booth, you learn their story. That is a real test of listening, of thinking, of knowing where you’re at, what the environment is, what brought that person there, why are you crossing paths right now in your lives.
Dorothy: Gosh, that sounds almost spiritual.
Reena: Yeah.
Dorothy: That’s a whole [00:15:00] different level of what we’re doing.
Reena: Yeah. And it can be super impactful. I was at an oil and gas conference, and I networked with a guy that was in the travel industry, and then he found out I was Jewish, and then he was like, I’m converting to Judaism. Never in a million years did I think showing up at an oil and gas conference and interviewing an exec at a travel company, that he was going to tell me that story.
And that episode got 4,600 listens. Because I’m like, why would you want to convert to Judaism? You can just like, do the Noahide laws and you’re good, buddy. Like, why would you choose that?
Dorothy: Oh, that is, that’s incredible, Reena. My goodness. I can see why that would have an interest. And it’s so real. I mean, who do you really open up to other than a stranger that’s halfway interested? It happens all the time.
Reena: Yeah. I love those instances, too.
Dorothy: Oh, yeah. Now, you know, this is [00:16:00] Let’s Talk About Your Breasts, so I want to talk about your breasts.
Reena: Cool.
Dorothy: And your family history.
Reena: I have actually a family history of breast cancer.
Dorothy: I was hearing that, and so who was it? How did that come about?
Reena: First it was my mom, and it happened to her young. Actually, around when she’s my age, which totally freaks me out because I am bad and I have not gotten a mammogram, but I do do the self, the self examinations.
Dorothy: Okay, Reena, I’m going to set up your schedule right now. I’m going to get your appointment. So she was about, she was in her early forties.
Reena: Yes. And no history of it. And then what’s really crazy is my grandmother ended up getting it in her 80s, and she had the more aggressive kind.
Dorothy: Huh. No, all right, so I’m not gonna lecture you, you already know what you need to do, but it’s really time for you to have that mammogram. Are you ever worried that you’re, that you might have the [00:17:00] same Outcome as they did?
Reena: Of course. And I also wonder, like, would I have done what they did? And what’s really interesting too, since we had a bit of a, like, spiritual moment earlier, my mom found out that she had breast cancer, like, right before I was going to take, like, this, like, spiritual trip in college, like, this women’s trip.
It was like a singles 18 to 29 trip to Israel. And I was like, darn, I already got it paid for. And like, I have a break from working in television and I really want to go. I was like, aren’t your sisters from Chicago coming to like, take care of you through the surgery? So I like, I kind of asked, can I go on this trip anyway?
And like, I ended up going and while she had surgery, because my mom had to have surgery, I prayed for her at like the Western Wall and I like organized like people on my trip to like pray for her during the surgery. And then after the trip, I [00:18:00] was like, I’ll be there for the reconstruction. I’ll take you to like the physical therapy. And like she had to do the thing where they put the stretchers in there. And she honestly said that was more painful than like going through the removal of them, where she felt like she was gonna pass out. Like, it was so painful. But also my mom is a very private person. And, she wouldn’t let me hug her through it. Like, she wanted to like, be strong and not go to any of these support groups. She felt like the people that go to support groups are too sad.
She wanted to like, be strong, not share her emotions. And I’m like such an overshare or such an emotional person. Like if I feel like I was going through, I’d probably start a whole TikTok journey. I’m like, Oh my God, here we go to the mammogram. Here we go to the cutting them off. You know?
Dorothy: Oh, Reena. But, but every woman has to deal with it in her own way.
Reena: Yeah. And I had to learn that.
Dorothy: And support groups [00:19:00] have a place, and, and our own internal strength has its place, but you know, you touched upon something, and that is that power of prayer. The scientists cannot explain why that works, but over and over again, it has been shown to make a difference. So, You know, we just, I’ll be glad to send you the studies. It is fascinating. People, people that are being prayed for and don’t even know they’re being prayed for have better outcomes than people who aren’t. And when it’s coming from someone who cares about you, you know, it is so much more powerful. It’s a fascinating part of someday I do believe that medicine and the scientific world and the spiritual world are coming together.
You know, I have known doctors to come in the room and say, we’re going to say a prayer for you before you go into surgery. Let me tell you, that makes you feel like. [00:20:00] You might be with a human being who is asking for that, that extra help.
Reena: What are your thoughts on Eastern versus Western medicine?
Dorothy: You know, they both have their place. And the most, uh, impactful physician I had in my life was trained in Western medicine and Eastern medicine. She did a lot of acupuncture and that was before it was popular. I mean, it was kind of like, do you know she does that? Oh yeah, I know she does that, you know, but it. It’s just a different way. She did not rely on tests.
She relied on putting her chest, putting her ear on my chest to hear my heart, relied on, on touching me. How often do doctors touch anymore? You know, to, to get the feel of my energy. Now I know that sounds a little wooey wooey. Boy, did she, well, she is a great diagnostician. [00:21:00] Unfortunately, she, this was quite a few years ago. She retired and I’ve lost track of her. But yeah, I think there’s a way they can come together.
Reena, I, we always hear that in the, in the breast cancer world, you know, you, you need to build up your immune system. You need to do all these things. You eat right, exercise, all that. But at the end of the day, our thoughts have such impact on us and we as human beings haven’t learned yet how to really master that part of us. You know, whenever we can, uh, let the body do its thing, it will heal. It will try everything it knows to heal, but how much, how many other things are coming in to interrupt that? It’s, um, to me it’s very fascinating and, and I do believe we’re coming to that time where they’re going to be together.
Reena: Interesting. Have you had any God moments throughout your life? [00:22:00]
Dorothy: Listen, we live in God moments here at The Rose. You know, we have a God box that we put things in that we can’t fix or don’t know where to go to. We have, uh, and what was really interesting was, uh, right after COVID people are coming back, people are really concerned, you know, and, and it was a different way of even doing mammograms.
You know, that’s one of those things you, you can’t do telehealth with that. so much. But we put a box out in the reception area and it just said, God Box, put your request in here. Filled up every week. We didn’t have to know what was in it. And I never did really open any up and read. I just held it and then we, we went ahead and, uh, you know, burned them.
Because that’s, that’s one of those special ways of releasing all that energy. So I’ve had, I’ve had salespeople call and say, can we be on, can you put my son on your prayer list? [00:23:00] You know, uh, once had an HR person who wanted to tell me that I couldn’t have a prayer list. I said, look, it’s not a Christian prayer list, it’s not a Jewish prayer list, it’s a prayer list.
We’re going to keep it up. She didn’t last long with me, but you know, I think there’s times you have to stand up and say, this we believe. Believe me, this, The Rose would never have made it where it is if we hadn’t had some, truly, a higher power helping us through.
Reena: How did the box start?
Dorothy: Let me think. I’ve had a God box for as long as I can remember. That’s a great question, Reena. It’s not like I had it as a kid, but I just remember starting it and putting my request in it.
Reena: That’s cool. I, it kind of actually reminds me of the, how people go to the Western wall and they put prayers in the wall and then [00:24:00] all of those prayers are buried. They’re not read either.
Dorothy: Yeah.
Reena: They’re supposed to be for God.
Dorothy: There, there is something, you know, and I, I also have this theory that no matter how much you pray or want something to happen until you turn it over, you know, it’s, it’s like when you say it out loud, you let the angels have permission to go and take care of it. Now, that’s something I heard a long, long time ago, so it’s always writing it down is probably one of the most therapeutic things you can ever do. We, we have a tradition here that we do our goals every year. And I encourage employees to do, this isn’t professional goals, particularly their personal, you know, their wishes. And it’s always amazing when they open them up the next year and go, I got that done. I don’t even remember putting that on the list, but it got done. You know, the power of, of putting your request in writing. It’s huge.
Reena: [00:25:00] I want to ask a couple of questions because I feel like, honestly, navigating a mammogram could be easier.
Dorothy: Okay.
Reena: I think I called, you know, like a girlfriend said, Hey, I got a mammogram here, here’s a number. And then you call and they’re like, do you have a family doctor? I was like, not yet, just moved to town. And they’re like, well, we can’t give you a mammogram unless you have a family doctor for us to give the results to. And then they’re like, but then once you come after the first time, we can give the results to you. So, I’m like, well, that makes no sense whatsoever.
Dorothy: Okay, some of this has, has been due to the regulations in mammography. And now, every patient gets their letter. But let me tell you the danger. And, and we ask for a physician referral too. Have physicians who we can turn to if the patient doesn’t have one.
And for, remember, we take care of uninsured women. That uninsured woman may not have seen a doctor in 10 years. Or since she had her last baby or whatever, you know. [00:26:00] So we have a program called the Mammogram to Medical Home that provides our nurse practitioner, brings her in, does her, you know, a breast exam and then determines what kind of mammogram she needs.
But think about this. You’ve got a lump in your breast. You go get your mammogram. You felt it. You know it’s there. You don’t mention it to everyone. Maybe you have those super dense breasts that are very hard for a mammogram to get through, to detect. But you know you have it. Go have your mammogram. No one else is looking at that.
No one else has done a breast exam on you, which is the purpose of the doctor. Now, not all of them do, but that’s the purpose. And you get this thing that says you’re okay. There’s no abnormalities where you’re going to go for, I guarantee way too long and that lump’s going to grow. And then your rate of survival just plummets.
So there’s a lot of good reasons to have that family physician [00:27:00] be the one that’s ordering it. And it’s not the going in part, because believe me, I’m a feminist. I believe a woman ought to be asked, may be able to ask for whatever she needs. But I also understand the technicalities there. It’s on that end when you have that result.
Maybe you want to call that patient back in and say, let me, let me do another clinical exam on that. So yes, that’s a barrier. It’s a big barrier, especially for many of our ladies who are uninsured. I’ll tell you what, it’s a barrier for any woman because so many doctors are retiring or they’re connected to other systems and you lose your family practitioner, you move like you did, you know, it’s a barrier. I agree.
Reena: I interviewed a lady, her name is Philecia La’Bounty. I don’t know if you know her story. She went in at 28 because she found a little bump under her bra and then she like asked her boyfriend, she’s like, do you feel that? Then she goes in, has it looked at. At 28 years old, they told her it [00:28:00] was a benign cyst. It would not go away. In fact, it started to get bigger and she went back one year later and now she has stage four cancer.
Dorothy: You see, that’s one of the reasons why we are such advocates for young women. And young women must, must, must be noisy, advocate, insist on, you know, they’re so, I, I just interviewed our youngest ever, who was 18.
Reena: Oh my God, no.
Dorothy: And it was the hardest interview I’ve ever done. Because she’s never told her story before. You as a podcaster know what that’s like. And I’m hearing how she came to The Rose and we made sure she got into treatment and, you know, all those things. But again, if, if she hadn’t said, I know this is something, you know, women have, have young and old have got to be able to [00:29:00] stand up and say, I need, I need something else.
Reena: That reminds me of my grandma. I mean, I feel like my parents generation and my grandma’s generation, like they were a lot better about going for their yearly checkups.
Dorothy: They were.
Reena: I have a five year old and I had a, Preemie, he was born at three months. And so this kid, he’s my baby. I had him close to 40. My other ones are grown up and I nursed him for four years. I just got done nursing like a year ago. So that is another excuse I have because I’m like, oh my god, when you nurse a child for four years, your boobs are not normal, you know, and I heard that you can’t get a mammogram if you’re nursing. Is that true?
Dorothy: Well, it’s true to a point. You can do an ultrasound, but Reena, I really do want to get you scheduled.
Reena: I know. I really, even after interviewing that Philecia chick, she was like, tell me you’re going to do it today. And after I got off with her, I did try to navigate the healthcare system, because I’m actually insured, and they made it where they transferred me to so many people I [00:30:00] literally hung up. I was like, ah, I’ll do it later, but I am coming up on my 45th birthday, and I know it’s something I need to do.
Dorothy: Okay, I’m going to contact you offline. We’re going to get you scheduled. You know, we have two locations. We can make that happen, but see all the things you have helped our listeners here. You know, the reasons we, we put it off, the reasons we, nothing’s fun about having a mammogram. I’m the first one to tell you that, but it is still the best, best test we have in the world of early detection, and that’s, that’s all we have, Reena. You know, we, we don’t have a way to make cancer go away. We, we, we can’t prevent it, but we can sure stop it from taking too many lives. And here I thought we had very little to talk about.
Reena: I wanted to ask one more thing, because after doing this interview with someone who has been struggling with it now, Since she [00:31:00] was 29 years old, she told me that even after having a mammogram, since I have a history of breast cancer, my grandmother and my mother have gone through it, that even if you get a negative result that maybe I should even have, what is it called? Where they, an MRI, or they puncture it or?
Dorothy: Yes. Now you don’t go puncturing something till you have something puncture, but mammography won’t see everything. The density of the breasts will make a big difference. Breasts that are just through breastfeeding will make a big difference. You know, at the very least, it would seem you’d need an ultrasound. You know, that’s non invasive. An MRI is really non invasive. It’s, it’s just one more level, and The Rose offers that too.
Breast cancer is one of those cancers— there’s 17 different kinds, and there’s two of them that will never show on anything. You just feel them. So it, it takes a many different tests and you can [00:32:00] insist on that. Now, your insurance can say, we’re not going to pay for it. But at, I had the best guest I ever had said, well, the insurance ain’t going to pay for my funeral. So I want it. And that’s true. Sometimes you just have to go ahead and get it.
Reena: Can you tell me the difference in the types of scanning? Like, are there more than one? Type of mammogram.
Dorothy: Well, you want the 3D mammogram. Okay. That’s a standard of care now because it’s going to see more. It’s 3D, it’s like, it’s very much like a CAT scan. It’s, it’s looking at the, the breast in different slices. But yes, there’s ultrasound. Ultrasound will show you a lesion, will show you a lump, will show you a, a, that kind of change. It won’t show calcifications. Calcifications, the earliest sign of breast cancer. That’s a mammogram. MRI picks up a lot of different things, so you really have to correlate it back to the mammogram.
So yeah, [00:33:00] there’s lots of different, and those are your diagnostic, I mean, you have your screener, and then. If you have something there, you have a diagnostic. You feel something, you come in and have a diagnostic. And the difference in that is the doctor’s there in the room. The doctor is going to look, he’s going to do, he or she’s going to do that clinical correlation and really be in real time looking at your ultrasound. So those things make a big difference in determining whether you need a biopsy, you know, need to just have it drained, or wait three months and come back.
Reena: And somebody can come to your facility and you can set them up with a family doctor and schedule them for a mammogram?
Dorothy: So you still don’t have a family doctor, right?
Reena: No. I do have insurance though. I could go through the list they give you.
Dorothy: And sometimes that’s one way of doing it. But let’s get you scheduled. We’ll, we’ll make all this happen.
Reena: Okay. We can, uh, shoot some behind the scenes shots, too.
Dorothy: [00:34:00] No, you have to be very open for that, my dear, and if you choose to do that, it’s okay, but—
Reena: Well, it won’t be the Jerry Springer, uh, version.
Dorothy: Oh, Reena, this has been delightful. I have a feeling we will have you on site anyway.
Reena: Yes.
Dorothy: So, let me, let me contact you after we get through, and thank you for being so open. Thank you for your questions. You know, we forget. We, we do this every day. We forget that people don’t know about it. They don’t know what goes on or why it happens. So excellent questions and thank you for your show that makes people smile.
Reena: Thank you so much.
Dorothy: I love your dad I love his voice. He’s so reassuring.
Reena: Well, I would love to have you on my show where you can tell him that.
Dorothy: Oh, okay Wilson. Oh, you’re gonna make me do the guest bit.
Reena: Yes, I’m gonna flip the script and you’re gonna be in the hot seat.
Dorothy: All right. All right. [00:35:00] Thank you for being with us today.
Reena: Thank you so much, Dorothy. It’s my pleasure.
Post-Credits: Thank you for joining us today on Let’s Talk About Your Breasts. This podcast is produced by Speke Podcasting, and brought to you by The Rose. Visit TheRose.org to learn more about our organization. Subscribe to our podcast. Share episodes with friends and join the conversation on social media using #LetsTalkAboutYourBreasts. We welcome your feedback and suggestions. Consider supporting The Rose. Your gift can make the difference to a person in need. And remember, self care is not selfish. It’s essential.
