Mammography testing offered by SUNY Stony Brook at Sayville Fire Dept.

Providing a more accessible way to conduct mammograms, the Stony Brook University mobile mammography bus was in the Sayville Fire Department’s expansive parking lot on Saturday, March 27.

Called the “Think Pink: Early Detection Event,” local women could sign up for appointments to receive their mammography.

“We’re here today partnering up with the Stony Brook breast cancer screening. They come down to provide service to the community. It’s a central location and it’s for a good cause,” said Sayville fire commissioner Marc Henig.

Currently, there is no walk-in option as Stony Brook did not want patients waiting and causing crowding, but generally averaged one patient every half-hour.

Assemblyman Jarett Gandolfo, congressman Andrew Garbarino, and sheriff Errol D. Toulon visited the mobile unit the day before the appointments.

"Breast cancer does not pause for COVID-19, and neither do we," stated Gandolfo. "Through collaboration with congressman Andrew Garbarino and sheriff Errol D. Toulon Jr., Ed., we are committed to providing help and inspiring hope because together, we can save lives.”

Toulon, a two-time cancer survivor, was particularly moved by the availability of accessible cancer screening.

“Early detection saves lives—and just because we are in the middle of a global pandemic shouldn’t mean that preventative screening takes a backseat,” Garbarino said.

Pam Raymond, the grand dame of Sayville, was in attendance and has been getting regular mammograms for years, citing her mother and two sisters who had bouts of breast cancer. Raymond added some levity and said after her appointment, “I really think that women should be engineers. A woman should design the mammography machine. We let a man do it, how do they know? What if we put some part of their body in a machine that squeezes?”

According to the American Cancer Society, women aged 40 to 44 years should have the choice to start breast cancer screening once a year with mammography if they wish to do so. The risks of screening as well as the potential benefits should be considered.

Women aged 45 to 54 years should be screened with a mammography annually. For women aged 55 years and older, screening with mammography is recommended once every two years or once a year.

Stony Brook University is home to the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Center which responds to the special needs of women on Long Island and was named in honor of breast cancer awareness activist Carol M. Baldwin. The center provides comprehensive management of breast cancer and benign breast disease.

The multidisciplinary Breast Surgery Service brings together the expertise of clinical faculty and staff from the departments of surgery; medicine; radiology; radiation oncology; and obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive medicine. Breast surgeons and mammographers work side by side to complete the entire evaluation at the patient's first visit.

The Breast Care Center offers convenient outpatient breast surgery, as well as stereotactic biopsy procedures. Both radiation and medical oncologists are available for consultation. Specialized lymphedema treatment, if needed, is available through the physical therapy department. Established in 1993, the Breast Care Center continues to serve as the model of the highest quality breast care on Long Island.