3x Survivor Gives Access to Free Mammograms for Uninsured

Amy Young, a three time cancer survivor, founded a nonprofit organization, YES!to Mammograms giving uninsured women in Brevard County, Florida access to free mammograms.

Having  worked in the oncology field  for several years, Amy met many women whose breast cancer was advanced by the time they sought treatment because they couldn’t afford mammograms. As a 3x cancer survivor, Amy knows how important it is to have diagnostic testing performed early. She attributes her survival to having access to early diagnostic testing.

Amy’s motivation for starting an organization to fund free mammograms began when, as a teen, she watched an aunt die of breast cancer, never having had a mammogram.

Her personal experiences with cancer also began early. She was diagnosed with a brain tumor soon after arriving in England with her husband, who was in the military, and a 3-month old and a 14-month old. Following treatment, she went into remission only a year later to be diagnosed with yet another tumor. The entire treatment process began all over again. She was in a foreign country, trying to take care of a newborn and a toddler who could not walk because of Cerebral Palsy, while trying to adjust to military life with a husband that was either away on assignments or working 12-hour shifts.

In 1995, three months before her husband was about to retire from the Air Force, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer during  her yearly PAP exam. Since she had routine PAP tests yearly, the cancer was found early. She had surgery, but  didn’t have to go through chemotherapy.

Amy began her health care studies and working with Oncology patients when she returned to the States and settled in Florida. Seeing the numbers of women who could have been spared advanced breast  cancer had they had mammograms, Amy and her husband began pooling their money to support free access to mammograms for low income and uninsured women in Brevard County.

Today, with the support of  family, public and private donations YES! to Mammograms (www.yestomammograms.org) makes it possible for low-income and uninsured women in Brevard County, FL to have a FREE life-saving digital mammograms!

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