Interview request: Breast Cancer Screening With a Disability
Do you have a physical or cognitive disability? Have you had any type of breast cancer screening?
Breastcancer.org is working on an article about breast cancer screening for people with disabilities.
We’re interested in hearing from people with any type of disability about their screening experiences. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer or not, or whether the disability existed before a diagnosis or developed as a result of treatment.If you’re interested in sharing your story or insights, please email our senior editor, Jamie, at jdepolo@breastcancer.org.
Comments
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I'm looking forward to your discoveries. My interest is not personal — I'm not disabled, although I have been diagnosed with and treated for breast cancer (twice!). I'm asking because of questions I've seen posted to "Wheelchair Life" and other similar Facebook groups.
My husband is paraplegic and requires a Hoyer lift to transfer to and from his wheelchair. Nearly all his medical care is provided while he is seated in his chair. Sometimes that's easy, because his chair tilts, reclines, and raises/lowers, and most of his healthcare providers are accommodating. Occasionally, as when he needs to lie supine for imaging, the staff will scout around for a lift to transfer him.
For someone in a manual chair, medical encounters would not be as simple. It's not unusual to see posts to the wheelchair/disability groups asking how mammograms are done on a person in a wheelchair. We've encountered situations where a medical facility did not have, or could not find, a Hoyer lift to enable a transfer. I don't doubt that happens with breast care as well.0
