This news item expired on Saturday, October 12, 2024 so the information below could be outdated or incorrect.
When it comes to breast cancer, we know that early detection saves lives! For Breast Cancer Awareness Month we are featuring the Buncombe County Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program (BCCCP) which offers free, lifesaving mammograms to qualifying Buncombe women and transgender individuals who don’t have health insurance.
This includes women and transgender people who:
- Are ages 40-64
- Have no insurance.
- Are below 250% of the federal poverty line.
Find more information on eligibility on this site or by calling (828) 250-6006.
In addition to free mammograms, BCCCP offers financial support to pay for treatment if you get a diagnosis. The program also offers cervical exams, pap smears, and HBV/HCV testing. Some people between the ages of 21 to 39 may be eligible for cervical screening services.
Signs and Symptoms of Breast Cancer:
- A change in how the breast or nipple looks or feels: nipple tenderness, lump in the breast, or thickening. Change in skin texture or engagement of pores in the breast skin.
- A change in the breast or nipple appearance: unexplained change in size, dimpling, swelling, shrinkage, new asymmetry, inward or inverted nipple, and skin that becomes red, scaly, or swollen.
- Clear or bloody nipple discharge.
To learn more, get this free Know the Symptoms guide from the National Breast Cancer Foundation and learn how to do a breast self-exam.
Here is what one of our clients had to say: "The services and assistance you all offered me was exceptional. The entire cost of my breast imaging was covered, and I was able to rest assured that I am cancer-free. Please know that you greatly enhance people’s lives and truly are a godsend to this community.”
Visit us online at buncombecounty.org/pink or call (828) 250-6006 to find out if you qualify for lifesaving BCCCP services.
In addition to learning and sharing about breast cancer resources during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, you can join us at the ABIPA Pretty in Pink Night Walk on Oct. 28 starting at 5:30 p.m. Participants are encouraged to wear pink or any other cancer color they want to represent.