Catching Cancer Early On : Health: Free mammograms provided through the Komen Foundation give low-income women a chance to detect the disease at its most curable stage.

Her older sister’s brush with death drove Roberta Reed to the Oasis Senior Center here Thursday for a free mammogram. Her sister, who is also her roommate, was home in Irvine recuperating from surgery to remove a tiny cancer in her breast.

“The doctor said another two months and it would have spread into the lymph glands,” said Reed, 53, as her eyes filled with tears.

Both Reed and her sister, Barbara Sherman, have been working part time as secretaries. They do not have medical insurance and cannot afford a mammogram, which can range from $50 to $300 in Orange County.

But in December, Sherman read about the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation’s free mammogram screening for low-income women 40 and older. She made an appointment for the test, which, followed by a sonogram and biopsy, detected the cancer in its earliest, and thus must curable, stage.

Early detection is the ultimate goal of the breast cancer screening program, which is entirely funded by Race for the Cure, an annual run. Hosted in Newport Beach by the Komen Breast Cancer Foundation for the last two years, the event has attracted thousands of participants, including breast cancer survivors. Last year it raised $271,000, a portion of which was committed to the early detection program.

Dr. Dava F. Gerard, a San Clemente surgeon and founder of the Orange County chapter of the Komen Foundation, said that so far the program, a mobile service that rotates among churches and community centers, has screened 877 women.

She said that six confirmed cases of breast cancer have been discovered and that four more women whose initial screening showed a possibility of cancer are waiting for more definitive results from biopsies or additional X-rays.

Besides providing free mammograms to women who cannot afford them, Gerard said, the Komen Foundation will pay for follow-up procedures necessary to reach a firm diagnosis.

Once a patient has a certain diagnosis of cancer, she added, Medi-Cal or the county’s medical program for the indigent will pay for surgery and therapies such as chemotherapy and radiation.

Komen Foundation officials and volunteers said they are striving to spread the word about the importance of early detection in Orange County, where the breast cancer rate exceeds the national average, striking one in every seven women over their lifetimes.

They said they are having the most difficulty reaching the county’s ethnic minorities and elderly women, who are much less likely than younger women to have mammograms, even though the risk of breast cancer increases sharply with age.

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Among the women who need no convincing were the 19 who braved the rain Thursday morning to show up at the senior center.

Some of the women had been referred by doctors, while others were motivated by close friends or relatives who had recently discovered cancer through mammography.

The women received breast exams by a nurse practitioner, low-radiation mammograms and detailed instructions on how to perform self-exams.

For some, like Rosario Barajas, 43, who speaks only Spanish, it was the first mammogram of their lives. Barajas’ 19-year-old daughter drove her to the screening from their Westminster home and served as an interpreter.

“Does she check her breasts every month?” the nurse practitioner asked. Barajas, through her daughter, said she did not. She was immediately advised to set up a self-exam routine.

Katie Parker, director of the program and owner of Breast Health Services, a Carlsbad company licensed to perform mammography, noted that “nine out of 10 women find their own lumps,” although most check their breasts only occasionally.

If women performed self-exams more thoroughly and regularly, Parker said, any lumps would probably be discovered when they are much smaller.

Another patient, Leonor Gomez, a 43-year-old immigrant from Guatemala who lives in Santa Ana, said that she does examine her breasts but wanted a mammogram after a friend and a relative were recently diagnosed with breast cancer.

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Gomez said she could not afford the $145 that a private physician quoted her. The housekeeper said she learned of the free screening program from one of her clients, who happens to work for the Komen Foundation.

While Gomez and other women at Thursday’s screening said they were grateful for the service, none were more appreciative than those who, through the program, discovered breast cancer and were able to take steps to conquer it.

“I’m alive now because of (the program),” said Jodi Currie, 46, of San Clemente, a school bus driver who otherwise could not have paid for the mammogram that indicated a cancer larger than a golf ball.

Currie, who had a total mastectomy and is undergoing chemotherapy, to be followed by radiation, volunteers to help with paperwork for the Komen Foundation.

Similarly, Reed said, she will talk about breast cancer detection to her all-women sailing club, and her sister will join the ranks of the foundation volunteers as soon as she is well enough. They are committed to increasing awareness of the program, Reed said.

“My sister told me, and we tell everybody,” she said.