Beebe breast cancer prevention places patient at center of care
The patient is us.
My name is Diana Dickson-Witmer, MD, FACS, breast surgical oncologist, board certified in surgery at Beebe Center for Breast Health, and I want you to know that there is more to women's healthcare than surgery and other treatment for cancer.
Throughout my career, one of the things I have always tried hard to keep in mind is that the patient is us. We, the providers, are going to be in the same position, maybe not with the same diagnosis, but if we live long enough, we will eventually sit in the patient's chair. We always need to treat the patient exactly the way we would want to be treated ourselves. We, as patients, will expect to be listened to, to be respected, and to have our priorities factored into the creation of a patient-centered treatment plan.
I joined Beebe Healthcare because the health system has a clear vision for the future. It will provide the very best healthcare in Sussex County with a focus centered on patients. I am excited to join this growing, forward-looking institution, and to be given the extraordinary opportunity to play a leadership role in development of the next generation of healthcare in Sussex County and beyond.
The women's health group at Beebe is also very interested in prevention of cancers. Not everyone can do things that will prevent a breast cancer from happening, but there are modifiable risk factors, and it's a lot better to prevent a cancer from ever happening than to treat even an early-stage cancer.
Together with Dr. Roseanne Gichuru and other members of the women's health team, we will work to help inform the public about how each woman can estimate her personal risk of developing breast cancer, and what she can do to reduce that risk. We will be creating a breast cancer prevention program that will facilitate appropriate surveillance of women at greater than 20 percent lifetime risk of breast cancer, and guide appropriate referrals to genetic counseling or to specialists to consider tamoxifen for risk reduction. The aim of these efforts is to reduce the risk of breast cancer wherever possible and to find breast cancer at an early stage should it occur.
Everyone here at Beebe is committed to this patient-focused approach, and I'm proud to have joined this team and have the opportunity to lead the expansion of the center to provide even more services to the people of Sussex County and surrounding areas.
To learn more about the Beebe Center for Breast Health, go to beebehealthcare.org.
