HILLSBORO, Texas (KXXV) — "We were all diagnosed via mammogram," said Sheri Mathis, two-time breast cancer survivor and president of Mammogram Poster Girls.
Sheri and her two sisters all found out they had breast cancer through early detection.
Mathis, a two-time breast cancer survivor, says she realized something while waiting to receive a mammogram.
"So many of those women were in there who had not gotten their annual mammogram because by that point, it was not covered by insurance," Mathis said.
She made it her life mission to put an end to that, and started raising money for women to receive free mammograms — her drive and efforts connected her to Hill County.
Dr. Jeremiah Seely with Hill Regional Hospital said through Mathis' program, Mammogram Poster Girls, they offered free mammograms last year, which possibly saved someone's life.
"We did have some abnormal mammograms, and then working with a medical clinic, we were able to coordinate those patients with specialists to follow up with other imaging and biopsies, if needed," Dr. Jeremiah Seely said.
This year, the Posters Girls are working with Hill Regional Hospital again to offer free mammograms.
Posters Girls received a grant of more than $13,000 from the Make All the Difference Foundation to make everything possible.
"If you don't catch it early, it gets a chance to grow, and it gets a chance to grow outside of the breast," Mathis said.
In the United States, the American Cancer Society estimates that 310,720 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women in 2024.
"Unfortunately, cancer doesn't really care sometimes how old you are," Dr. Seely said.
"We've seen breast cancer in women even before the age of 40 when the current guidelines suggest screening."
Dr. Seely suggests women also do at-home check-ins and get annual mammograms, and Mathis agrees.
"I am living proof of why you need to do that," she said.
"I may not be here if I hadn't gotten my screening mammograms — if my sisters hadn't gotten their screening mammograms."
