Russellville surgeon shares words of wisdom

When a woman over 40 comes to visit Dr. Jeffrey Manord, no matter what procedure she is pursuing, he always has an additional focus: breast health.

“Our office does a lot of screenings,” said Manord, a general surgeon who opened his Russellville practice in 2017. “All of our patients that come to see us, no matter what they come to see us for, when they are 40 years old, we start doing mammograms at least every year” – or, for some stubborn patients, at least every other year.

Manord said although just the thoughts of a mammogram can make some women nervous, patients should remember that abnormalities are not always cancer. Additional imaging through compression or magnification views can often reveal that they are no problem.

“I reassure them that most likely it’s not going to be a breast cancer, but if it is, they are doing the right things, doing the things to protect themselves, in getting a mammogram,” Manord said. With the increase in survival rate when breast cancer is detected early, getting a mammogram can be one of the most important things she does for herself. “They’re not doing themselves any favors by not checking. Not checking is not going to make it not happen. If they want to take care of their body, if they want to do a service to themselves and their family – you know, it’s a family disease as well – they need to get a mammogram, and if they have an issue, they can get it taken care of early.”

When an abnormality does seem to be a cause for concern, Manord can perform a biopsy in house – and even those results that require a biopsy might ultimately be benign.

For those who results show cancer in the breast tissue, Manord’s office is prepared to be with patients every step of the way – down whichever of many treatment paths a woman might choose.

“Those are the ones who are going to need aggressive treatment,” said Manord. “It can depend on the tumor. Certain tumors, the best option is mastectomy. Generally, the first thing a women has to decide is whether she wants to do breast conservation therapy.” The alternative to mastectomy would be a “breast conservation treatment,” such as a lumpectomy. “Most of the time we do breast conservation. We take out the breast cancer with some normal tissue that surrounds it, so all the tumor is gone, and then they have to have radiation” – for which Manord can provide a referral to a radiation oncologist. “Hopefully we get cures,” Manord added. The smaller a breast cancer is, the more likely we are to cure it.”

Surgery is the first step

“Once the surgery part is over, the next part is, What kind of treatment are they going to have going forward?” Manord said. Chemotherapy and radiation are two options, with determining factors including the presence of tumor genes or estrogen/progesterone receptors. Women might also make different choices based on their age. Manord said another option for some women might be anti-hormone treatment, as well – decisions that can all be made with the help of a woman’s surgeon and other physicians involved in her care.

Manord said sometimes a family history of breast cancer will prompt women to take their breast health more seriously – “Sometimes mom or aunt had it, and those are things that should prompt people to be more concerned, if they have a family history” – but 90 percent of women diagnosed have no family history of the disease. In any case, women should be diligent about their annual screenings, despite the fear of negative results or the fear of the mammogram itself.

“Even though it’s scary and emotional to go through, they are doing the right thing,” Manord said. “It’s painful to have to go through having a mammogram – the nervousness, the emotions, those things are real – but they are doing the things they need to do to take care of their bodies.”