Avera sponsored an event to begin Breast Cancer Awareness Month at the Fort Randall Casino on Friday, September 29th. Avera was able to bring the mobile mammogram unit to the Fort Randall Casino for breast cancer screenings, due to a grant from the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Even though Avera sponsored the event, it was because of local breast cancer survivor, Marci Uribe, that this event was created and took place.

Marci (Gonzalez) Uribe grew up in Marty and graduated from Marty Indian School in 1996. After graduation she moved away, but in 2014 moved back to the area with her husband, Ruben, to take a position at the Fort Randall Casino.

Marci created this event with the help of her doctor, Michelle Bryan and the Avera team to be able to share her journey as a breast cancer survivor with the local community in hopes that others will go and get screened and not have to embark on the same journey as she did. When Marci was first diagnosed with breast cancer, she was already in stage three, had recently had a baby and was nursing at the time.

Dr. Michelle Bryan was Marci’s doctor and was able to be a part of Marci’s entire journey. Dr. Bryan is part of the Avera Cancer Institute in Sioux Falls. The Avera Cancer Institute takes a multidisciplinary approach to cancer, creating a team for each individual patient. Dr. Bryan was Marci’s breast surgeon.

The event was very successful. Thirteen patients scheduled screenings before the event, with several people walking in also interested in screenings. There were over thirty people in attendance for Dr. Bryan’s presentation and Marci sharing her breast cancer survivor journey for the first time. Aflac was also at the event for anyone looking to sign up for a cancer policy. The Avera team had a lot of breast cancer information on site to give out and Think Pink items to help bring recognition to Breast Cancer Awareness month.