Radiology: How can getting regular scans be life-changing
Robbie Richardson has seen her fair share of medical scans throughout her life. Throughout her lifetime, she has battled breast cancer and colon cancer, but things took a turn when she went into cardiac death.
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Robbie Richardson has seen her fair share of medical scans throughout her life. Throughout her lifetime, she has battled breast cancer and colon cancer, but things took a turn when she went into cardiac death.
“The ambulance came, the paramedics came, and they shocked my heart and got me to where I was able to breathe,” Richardson said. “I coded 6 more times that night at the hospital.”
After her trip to OCH Regional Medical Center, She was later transferred to a hospital in Jackson for further treatment. Still, Richardson says she was thankful that when things need to be checked, they need to be checked quickly and locally.
Richardson still has regular checkups to make sure her heart is well, and earlier this week, she had an appointment.
“I saw my primary care doctor, he said ‘We need to have this checked.’ He wrote the order, I walked across the street, and within an hour the procedure, or test was run,” Richardson said. “You know, we don’t live in a large town, we think Starkvegas is big, but it isn’t. Without the radiology being available, and qualified staff to operate that equipment, I wouldn’t be here.”
Director of Radiology Andrea Williams and Assistant Director Ashley Zurweller say getting scans is important because they can detect underlying or developing issues.
“Early Detection of anything can be preventative, and can save diseases progressing,” Williams said.
“Mammograms, CT Calcium scorings, CT lung Cancer screenings, are super important in the diagnosis and early detection of breast cancer, coronary artery disease, and possible chances of lung cancer,” Zurweller said.
Zurweller says the machines that do the scans can make patients feel uneasy, but, she says Once they explain the exam to the patient, they are put more at ease.
“I think a lot of the patients are scared of the radiation, which the majority of our x-rays, whether it’s a chest x-ray or 3D views of the wrist, a lot of those are gonna be the same amount of radiation from just daily background living,” Zurweller said.
“What you have to fear is not having it checked, and it being worse,” Richardson said. “You’re going to walk out of that procedure and say ‘I’m glad I had that done.'”
For more information, you can visit och.org/radiology.
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