Cancer Foundation of Saskatchewan fundraising to replace lifesaving mammogram bus

Kelly Rea called the breast screening bus that travels around Saskatchewan to conduct mammograms her “lifesaver.”

Because of Rea’s history of cancer, she said she needs to be a little extra careful — and part of that is regular mammograms.

“You tend to run a higher risk,” Rea said.

A mammogram is a low-energy X-ray that examines a breast to detect the presence of cancer.

But for women like Rea who live hours away from a city centre that has the technology to conduct a breast scan, that isn’t always feasible.

Leah Palmer, early detection manager with the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency, explains some of the equipment inside their breast screening bus to media on Oct. 3, 2022. (Libby Giesbrecht/650 CKOM)

It’s why the Cancer Foundation of Saskatchewan is hoping to fundraise $2 million by March 31 for a new bus.

Leah Palmer, an early detection manager with the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency, said the bus doesn’t provide any lesser care but the cost to continue repairing it is becoming more than it’s worth.

According to Cancer Foundation of Saskatchewan CEO Nora Yeates, the bus has been off the road already for the past four weeks — though it is scheduled to be in Meadow Lake for about a month — and regularly breaks down.

Yeates added that the bus has hard-to-source parts which is making it difficult to repair, is drafty, is cold in the winter, is tight for space, and has worn furnishings.

However, the now-20-year-old bus does about 8,000 of the 37,000 mammograms that happen in Saskatchewan each year. It visits about 40 rural and northern communities on a two-year schedule.

With about 75 per cent of cancer-positive screenings caught in the disease’s early stages, the bus provides women with the information needed to pursue treatment with a high chance of success.

Rea herself has been cancer-free for almost 30 years.

“I was diagnosed two weeks after I found out that I was pregnant with my daughter,” Rea said.

Diagnosed with cervical cancer, Rea said she had to wait to deliver her daughter before she could begin treatments for the disease.

“By the time I got to get the treatments, I was already a Stage 3,” she said.

Rea was able to undergo aggressive treatments, including surgery.

Even though her own cancer wasn’t caught by the roving screening vehicle, Rea knows how critical the bus is as a tool for women in rural communities.

Travelling to a major city like Regina or Saskatoon isn’t always possible because of the cost of the commute and affording a day off work, like Rea has to do to drive four hours to Saskatoon.

“Having the program come to you gets to the people who can’t for any reason,” Rea said. “The bus makes it really easy for anybody who possibly wouldn’t be able to get to the city.”

The bus visits Kamsack once every two years, only 65 kilometres from Rea’s home and on her way to work. She said she can book an early-morning appointment and still make it to work by 8:30 a.m. while keeping tabs on her own health.

She said she is in and out of her mobile mammogram in 18 minutes. Two women can be seen at a time inside the bus, which has the equipment and other features to ensure the procedure to detect possible breast cancer can be completed while women are as comfortable as possible.

“It would be a shame for anybody to miss their opportunity to get a clean bill of health,” Rea said, calling it “devastating” that many women — if they didn’t have access to the technology in the mobile mammography vehicle — would likely not take action on pursuing such a procedure.

Deb Bulych, the agency’s interim president and CEO, said they’re thankful to be in a province known for its kindness and generosity with a need as substantial as this one.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an amended version of the story, correcting the organization that’s doing the fundraising.