Vote for Terry Hayes

To the Editor:

Please vote for Terry Hayes in November for State Legislator. We need her problem solving approach and strong leadership skills in Augusta.

Last winter, I contacted Terry regarding the introduction of a public health bill. She listened, did her research and has tirelessly advocated for LD 1886, a bill she sponsored to improve the dialogue between patients and physicians regarding breast density and breast imaging options.

Though great strides have been made in fighting breast cancer, 40,000 women a year are still dying in this country. Of women diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer, 20-25 percent have not been monitoring their breast health with routine mammograms, so no opportunity existed for them to be diagnosed earlier.

The remaining 75-80 percent of women diagnosed with later-stage breast cancer are like me. They routinely undergo mammographic screening, but they learn too late that mammograms are not an effective screening tool for dense-breasted women.

Sadly, they also often learn that while the letters they received telling them that their mammograms were normal made no mention of their breast density, the report sent to their referring doctors contained detailed information on this critical subject.

Not only do many referring physicians fail to discuss breast density with their patients - a recent survey found that 95 percent of women in America do not know their breast density - they also fail to tell them that dense breast tissue can hide 40 percent or more of cancers on mammograms and that breast density has been found to be a significant independent risk factor for developing breast cancer.

The passage of LD1886 will give many more women in Maine a fighting chance to beat this disease by including breast density information, when appropriate, in the patient mammogram result letter.

Women have a right to be informed about the risks/benefits and realistic limitations of any suggested screening tool.

Terry is smart, perceptive, organized and leads by example. I encourage voters to let her follow through on this important work she started. The choice is simple. Keep Terry Hayes in Augusta.

Thank you.

Barbara Deschenes

Norway