Mammogram screenings will be conducted Wednesday in conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Frogs for the Cure and TCU Human Resources Wellness Program.

The screenings will be conducted onboard Texas Health Resources Mobile Unit, which will be located in front of the Brown-Lupton University Union between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Nursing professor and director of the university’s Oncology Education and Research Center Suzy Lockwood collaborated with Susan Oakley from Human Resources to bring the Mobile Mammogram Unit to campus.

“We are trying to increase breast cancer awareness on campus and to make everyone more aware about the importance of getting mammograms,” Lockwood said. “So we wanted to bring the mammogram van on campus so that everyone would be able to learn more about breast cancer in an environment where it was very easy to go off to the van and learn more about it.”

She said making mammogram screenings more accessible to the university community was important because regular screenings helped detect breast cancer in its early stages.

She said bringing the mobile unit on campus also helped women who were unable to get screened during a workweek.

“A lot of times, the clinics in the facilities that provide the service are only open during regular office hours, which is 8 to 5. It’s very hard for people to get away from work to be able to do that,” she said. “So to be able to bring that on campus, women are able to go get the mammograms while they are at work, which is obviously much more convenient and encourages them to go get it done.”

Susan Oakley said she helped organize this event for Frogs for the Cure and also as part of Human Resources Wellness Program on the campus.

The Wellness Program encourages a healthy community, she said.

“A lot of companies these days are striving to have a healthy workforce, and TCU is certainly working to keep the workforce healthy and disease-free as much as we can,” Oakley said.

Getting a mammogram screening is one of those ways to make sure you are in good health, she said.

It is not the first time the Mobile Mammogram Unit has come to campus. The university has organized this event for the past 12 years, long before Frogs for the Cure was established on campus, she said.

Oakley said many other events are organized as part of Wellness in addition to the Mobile Mammogram Unit

“We have all sorts of events. We partner with Frogs for the Cure when it’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but we also have luncheons for diabetes and we run prostate cancer checks for men. We have done all sorts of things to make TCU a healthy place to work,” she said.

Ann Louden, chair of the Frogs for the Cure committee and the chancellor’s associate for external relations, said the series of events lined up this month in collaboration with Susan G. Komen’s Fight for the Cure made her proud to be a Horned Frog, especially since she is a breast cancer survivor herself.

Louden said Frogs for the Cure unites the university and the Fort Worth community toward the cause.

“One of the best parts of the Frogs for the Cure effort is the way it brings together professionals across our community,” she said. “We have a number of hospitals involved in supporting Frogs for the Cure and our efforts. We have physicians, we have clinicians and all of us work together to make sure that this cause is supported not just throughout the month of October but all year long.”

Louden said the idea behind this week’s mammogram screenings was to give women who would like to be screened for breast cancer the opportunity to do so in a fully contained mobile unit that allowed for screening and response back from the screening all at the same time.

Women over age 40 are encouraged to get a mammogram screening, Lockwood said.

According to a flyer from Texas Health Resources, limited spots are available on the Mobile

Mammogram Unit and each appointment averages around 20 minutes.

Women can schedule an appointment by calling 1.877.THR.WELL (1.877.847.9355).

Texas Health Mobile
Mammogram Unit

When: Wednesday – Oct. 19 between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Where: In front of the Brown-Lupton University Union

To schedule an appointment call 1.877.THR.WELL (1.877.847.9355)