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Grant Helps Launch New Breast Cancer Center at Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa
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A $165,000 grant from the San Francisco Bay Area Affiliate, of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation is helping to launch a Breast Care Center at Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa that its founders say will change the experience of women facing a breast cancer diagnosis in Sonoma County. The grant has helped to fund the creation of a key "nurse navigator" position whose function is to serve as guide, treatment coordinator, and information resource for breast cancer patients. The grant also funds the part-time positions of volunteer coordinator and integrative health coordinator.
"Right now, women receiving a breast cancer diagnosis face not only shock and fear but also scores of questions they need to have answers for, often within a day or two," says Amy Shaw, MD, medical director of Sutter's Women's Health Resource Center, which will be developing the Breast Cancer Center.
"What type of biopsy should she get? Where and from whom? Chemotherapy before or after surgery? Or even at all? Mastectomy or lumpectomy? Radiation? If so, what type? Breast reconstruction surgery at time of mastectomy or later? Unfortunately, women frequently don't get the information they need to make informed decisions on these urgent matters. Often, they're still too numb from the shock of their diagnosis. The nurse navigator will be responsible for seeing to it that every breast cancer patient gets the information, guidance and support she needs."
Dr. Shaw emphasizes that nurse navigator Lea Borden, RN-C, will make no specific recommendations regarding where a patient should go or what treatment she should receive. "It's about helping the patient sort through the questions and then arriving at the answers that are right for her," Dr. Shaw says. "Every cancer and every patient is unique."
Complicating the picture for patients and their physicians is that breast cancer is more complex than many other cancers, says Dr. Shaw. There are more variables and treatment options that depend on the size and location of the tumor, the age of the patient, and many other factors.
"It used to be that all breast cancer was treated more or less the same, with surgery only," she says. "But we have learned over the years that it's a very complex disease. That doesn't mean it can't be managed effectively. It just requires a very individualized approach."
One of many areas Dr. Shaw and nurse navigator Borden expect to emphasize is shortening the time delay women frequently experience between the finding of a suspicious lump or mammogram result and subsequent diagnosis.
"Mammography centers are extremely busy, but we believe it's possible to help coordinate and tighten up the system so that women have to wait only a week at most for a diagnosis rather than the month they sometimes face now," says Dr. Shaw. "We want to limit the sleepless nights women and their families face while awaiting a diagnosis."
Part of the urgency that fuels Dr. Shaw and her colleagues at the Breast Care Center is the extraordinary high rates of breast cancer found in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. The United States has one of the highest rates of breast cancer in the world, and the Bay Area has the highest rate in the U.S., she says. "We haven't discovered why this is so, but the statistics ought to concern everyone. More than one woman per week dies from breast cancer in Sonoma County. One out of three cancers in women are breast cancer. All those numbers are too high."
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Despite her concern over local breast cancer statistics, Dr. Shaw also sees many hopeful signs that promise to have a positive impact on breast health. "We have a tremendous number of resources to diagnose and treat breast cancer in the county," she says. "We have fine hospitals, plenty of available technology and many highly committed experts who want to do the best by their patients. What we're hoping to accomplish with the Breast Care Center is to provide a focal point for all those resources. We want to get them all collaborating and pulling in the same direction, so that every patient can get the help she needs."
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How Can I Help?
A community action council has been established for the Center. Members of the council will assist in planning clinical services, community outreach and awareness, and fundraising. If you are interested in helping, please contact Penny Vanderwolk, Sutter Medical Center's Fund Development and Community Relations Manager, at (707) 573-5039.
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