Dorothy: [00:00:00] We are celebrating National Mammography Day and in this special episode, lead radiologist Dr. Raz talks about what to expect when you have a mammogram and he’s going to give you a few other tips to make your next appointment the best one ever.
Let’s Talk About Your Breasts, a different kind of podcast presented to you by the Rose Breast Center of Excellence and a Texas Treasure. 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. Join us as we hear another story, and we answer those tough questions that you may have.
We’re here today with Dr. Raz, and he is our lead interpreting physician, and we are talking about National Mammography Day. So Dr. Raz, who do you celebrate on National Mammography Day?
Dr. Raz: Well, we [00:01:00] celebrate everything that’s related to breast cancer awareness, and we celebrate the women, and celebrate their health care, their breast care.
Celebrate their motivations, celebrate everybody here at the Rose. Yes. That’s doing such an awesome job, taking care of all these women that need the health care that they deserve.
Dorothy: And how long have you been with the Rose?
Dr. Raz: I’ve been, I’ve been here since, I’d say five years now, at this point. Seems like forever.
Yeah, seems forever, but every day, honestly, I’m excited. Every day I show up, and these women that keep the Rose going, just smoothly. And just taking care of our patients, you know, amazing support group here. I mean, there’s a chart here that says Dr. Raz rocks, but to be honest, all of these women rock, everybody at Rose, all the Rose family rocks.
Yay. And really it takes everybody here to, to, to make it happen. Yeah.
Dorothy: Yeah. [00:02:00] So is that what makes the Rose different from the other places you’ve worked?
Dr. Raz: Yes, absolutely. I worked at UTMB, which is. A great institution. It’s a university, right? And what differentiates the Rose is there’s a community feel to this.
And everybody wears many hats. Everybody is out here. Lots of hands together on deck every day. Just helping the community. Insured, uninsured women. You name it. Everybody’s welcome. There is no embargo. There is no restriction. A patient comes in. Open arms, we’ll make it happen. So many times I was at university, there’s always these, this red tape, right?
There’s, you can do this, you cannot do this, refer outside. There’s no such thing here. You come in, we take care of you from the entry all the way to nurse, the navigation, sending patients to the surgeon. If they’re diagnosed with [00:03:00] cancer. It’s, it’s, it’s just a place where we don’t take no for an answer. We just make it happen.
And yeah, it’s, it’s really that what separates The Rose, the, the, the quality of care, the, you know, the, the, the whole encompassing the compassion that we have. And it shows through in everything that we do.
Dorothy: I agree. So, we talk a lot about family as one of the Rose’s values. Yes. And, do you see that from where you sit?
Are you seeing that family value?
Dr. Raz: Yes, I do it. I mean, every time I come in, every day, right? It’s, you know, obviously we take care of patients. But, everybody knows each other so much here. We all know each other’s idiosyncrasies, making jokes. Makes the, makes the day go by quick and fast and happy, but really, uh, there’s a sense of, you know, when I, for example, let’s say I talk with the, with the patient, [00:04:00] the, the, the technologist doing the mammogram, really, when they come in, they say, okay, the patient feels this, et cetera, but honestly, on top of that, the technologist tells me their life story, almost half of the time, that’s what I hear.
This patient went to the vacation, had a wedding. She met somebody, thought about breast cancer. I would say she felt the lump. She came in over here. So, so that extra step these technologists take. Even my colleagues, Dr. Melillo, she’s been on this podcast, you know, she writes these very extensive notes on the patient.
She knows them by name, even their relatives. That’s really how we work here.
Dorothy: That is.
Dr. Raz: And you know, that really shows you the family values that we carry.
Dorothy: So when you go home at night, I know you say you’re excited to come to work every day, but when you go home at night, how do you feel about the work you did that day?
Dr. Raz: You know, a lot of times, practically speaking, I, I go and I speak with my wife, you know, my kids, [00:05:00] there’s an interesting case that I did. I do discuss with them. Um, and then, you know, a lot of times they’re like, wow, you did this, et cetera. Uh, but really every day that I come go home, I think about what I did and go back to the training.
And a lot of times, You feel if a patient had early cancer, et cetera, I do feel sad. I think about the cases and I think a lot of technologies can attest to it. Sometimes you do your best when you do screening mammogram, but occasionally you’re a year late in diagnosing that cancer. That weighs on me personally.
I feel like I should be diagnosing every cancer when it’s like two millimeters, super early. So I look back, but I am proud of what I do. Um, but I review my cases very thoroughly and whenever I go back home at night, I think through the day of work that I do, that I did. And it’s a mixture of pride and also how to improve.[00:06:00]
Dorothy: Oh yeah.
Dr. Raz: That’s how I think about it.
Dorothy: And the stories that we hear from our patients, sometimes they stay with you for a long, long time.
Dr. Raz: Oh yes. I know some of the cases and some of the patients by name, even three years out. Yeah. I’ll keep a list, I review them and. Occasionally, I even call the patient back even after a year and see how they’re doing.
They’re very, they’re very, very appreciative.
Dorothy: Oh, I bet. I bet. All right. So you’ve been asked this all month long. What are some tips you can tell women about what they need to do to take care of themselves for that self care?
Dr. Raz: Yes. Yes. So I’ll, you know, women nowadays, especially. You know, they’re working, they’re taking care of families, they don’t have any time for themselves.
So, especially this month, the Breast Cancer Awareness Month, please look yourself in the mirror, think what you really need for your health. In terms of breast care, try to do a good breast exam once a month. If you feel anything abnormal, please come in, let us [00:07:00] take a look, do some preliminary imaging, and make sure to get your mammogram every single year.
I cannot emphasize enough. Screening mammogram scientifically has been proven to save lives. Okay, if you screen, you reduce your risk of dying from breast cancer by 40%. You don’t do it, you have that much risk. So please screen, and especially this month, just take that extra hour and just think through your healthcare.
And if there’s anything breast related, please come to the Rose.
Dorothy: Right. And, and we have to tell women, if you don’t take care of yourself. You won’t be able to take care of anyone else. And, and we want you to just be here to take care of that family. So what do you have to say to all these wonderful people who are here to cheer you on?
Dr. Raz: All my Rose family, I love you. Thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for everything that you guys do.
Dorothy: So that wraps it up for today. And don’t forget, we’re doing a episode every single day. [00:08:00] You’re gonna get your daily dose of Let’s Talk About Your Breasts during the month of October.
Post-Credits: October is the month of pink.
And for The Rose, a Breast Center of Excellence. That means we’ll be airing podcasts every day in October to celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We’ll be sharing everything from men who have had breast cancer to what happens when you are pregnant and diagnosed with cancer. Be sure to share with family and friends because there’s a little something for everyone.
To find out ways to help The Rose, visit our website at therose.org. Remember, self care is not selfish. It’s essential.
