Xyxy

She didn't want chemotherapy. Didn't want radiation. Instead, Lin Tatalovich opted for a mastectomy, even though doctors thought her breast cancer probably hadn't spread.

"Probably" wasn't good enough for Tatalovich. She had to be sure it was gone. After all, she had three toddlers and a husband relying on her.

Three years later, Tatalovich is still convinced her decision was right for her. She shared her experience at a Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation luncheon held at the Silverton Hotel April 5. The occasion marked the second year in a row the casino hosted Mobile-Ray Imaging Inc., a touring mammovan.

The 40-foot bus, equipped with machinery to take mammogram X-rays, travels around the state, focusing on rural areas. It visits most areas two times a year, some of them four times a year. Owner-operators Donna Kohler and Carol Schwartz are both radiological technologists. Last year, their visit to the Silverton resulted in an early diagnosis for three women.

"(Bringing the mammovan here) came about because we are self-insured," said Fran Inman, executive vice president at Silverton. "We looked at our insurance and, unfortunately, breast cancer kept rearing its ugly head."

Dr. Rachel Hazan, a researcher with the Mount Sinai Medical Center, gave a slide show to help audience members understand how breast cancer spreads and the latest focus of her research. Susan Strang, executive director of the local chapter of the Komen Foundation spoke briefly on its recent 5K run. Six years ago, the event began with 1,300 entrants and this year had more than 11,000.

But it was the story Tatalovich told that moved the audience. She praised her husband for his unwavering support and urged women to have exams. She credited the Komen Foundation and its support group with helping her in difficult times and bringing a new group of friends into her life. They are now part of her life -- people she would never have met if she didn't have breast cancer.

"Sometimes I think God must have said, 'Hmmm, I think Lin needs more friends,' " she joked.

At age 40, a woman has a 1-in-217 chance of having breast cancer. Five years later, the odds increase to 1-in-93. And by age 50, 1-in-50. A majority of women who get breast cancer have no family history of the disease. However, a woman whose mother, sister, daughter, or grandmother had breast cancer has an increased risk.

Bonnie Snyder, a blackjack dealer at the Silverton, had her mammogram done on the traveling bus.

"I don't like to go to the hospital much," she said. "So I thought I'd go to work and use the mammovan. It's more informal."

The bus travels about 10,000 miles each year. It spent three days at the Silverton, where Kohler and Schwartz checked about 100 women, both employees and patrons. The pair estimate they've screened 5,000 women to date. It is in its third year of operation.

In Nevada, there were 1,475 newly diagnosed cases of breast cancer last year and 272 deaths attributed to the disease, according to Dr. Ihsan Azzam, a cancer specialist in Carson City.

Mobile-Ray Imaging can be reached at (775) 742-2336. The Susan G. Komen Foundation can be reached at 822-2324.