On Tuesday the ILoveBoobies team was called out to the Douglas Green Bottling company. If you have been following the blog, you will know we have been there a number of times. The nurse working there, Sister Harris, takes a lot of steps to keep their employees healthy and encouraged them to come to the screening despite there being a little hesitation.
We set up outside, on a warm, sunny day, making use of the ILoveBoobies gazebo to keep things private. Our nurses, Sisters Marilyn and Gail did a wonderful job explaining the process and answering any questions the patients had. We even had a few men join in, learning the skills to teach their daughters, wives, or any women in their lives, how to screen and the warning signs of breast cancer.

A question that often gets asked is, "Is it painful?" The answer is no. There are no machines, no pressing or squashing. The nurse is very gentle during her examination and she is always happy to answer questions. We provide a private environment so the ladies don't feel scared to ask any questions they may think are embarrassing.

Thursday and Friday we have been called out to screen the ladies at PUMA. They asked us to screen their head office and their warehouse staff. There are plenty of women working in this environment and they want to take the best care of their employees.
Thursday had us at PUMA's warehouse. We screened the ladies, from cleaners and security to HR and admin. We wanted to screen all the ladies we could, ending up with 62 ladies, almost all of their staff working in the warehouse. We will be in communication with PUMA's HR team to arrange mammograms, as some ladies are on company healthcare and some aren't. We will give them equal opportunities for breast health.
On Friday they set us up in their Zen Den, at their head office, which was appropriate because we want our patients to be calm and happy. That way they are more receptive to learning the warning signs of breast cancer and how to screen themselves. The company already provides a very fun, social environment to work in, so we felt very included and warmly received.
Sister Marilyn handled the examinations while myself and Maureen told the ladies some background about ILoveBoobies, the warning signs, any contributing factors, and how often to check yourself. After the screening, each woman received a pair of ILoveBoobies socks as a thank you for being there and for caring about breast health.

We have a lot of exciting screenings coming up, including Khayelitsha, 521 ladies in Grabouw and another visit to Douglas Green's other location