Carol Conti changed her focus about October as Breast Cancer Awareness month since she suffered the disease three years ago.

“I call October Breast Health Awareness Month. I’m more into prevention now. We need to stress that more,” Conti said.

Conti spent more than 30 years as a mammographer and radiologic technologist. She performed thousands of mammograms and was a staunch supporter of regular mammograms — until she found her cancer.

“Nothing showed on my mammogram, but during a self-exam I saw a dimple and found a lump behind it,” Conti said. “I thought, why didn’t that show up? Thank God I believe in regular self-exams.”

Conti advises women to get to know their breasts — how they feel, how they look — so any changes can be more easily identified.

“It’s OK to check yourself out,” she said.

Conti is also a proponent of thermal imaging, which did detect her cancer as a hot spot. It uses a special camera that can take a thermal image of the entire chest, front and side — without the risks of radiation, she said.

Conti decided to have a mastectomy done rather than just have the lump removed and receive radiation and chemotherapy because as a mammographer she saw many recurrences and didn’t want to go through the process. 

For the full story, see the Wednesday, Oct. 3, edition of The Camp Verde Journal or the Cottonwood Journal Extra.