Forty-five0year old Maria Burnsed remembers the day she found a lump in her breast. "I was in the shower and I was giving myself a breast exam and I found a lump."

Since her aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer almost eight years earlier, Maria knew she needed to take the lump seriously. She scheduled an appointment to have a mammogram. After several other procedures, she landed in the office of St. Joseph's/Candler general surgeon Dr. Susan Mahany, where Maria got the devastating news.

She had in situ ductal carcinoma, a form of breast cancer. " I was scared and angry," she said. "But I wasn't going to let anything like that take over me or control of my life."

Dr. Mahany said she sees at least four patients a month newly diagnosed with the disease. She said the number of breast cancer patients is increasing, but only because early detection is helping doctors find the tumors at an earlier stage. "We recommend mammograms beginning at age 40," she explained. "For women who have a strong family history of breast cancer, we recommend mammograms in their 30s."

"As you age, the likelihood of you developing breast cancer does increase," said St. Joseph's/Candler cancer services coordinator Julie Schwartz. "Age is a primary risk factor. The earlier you get it detected, the earlier you start treatment."

Schwartz wants all women to be screened for breast cancer. As part of the St. Joseph's/Candler mobile mammography unit, she's hoping to help women who may not be able to get the costly, yet life-saving test.

Maria was one of those people. It was on the mobile unit that the lump could be clearly seen in her breast. "Early detection does save lives, it really does," said Maria.

If you miss that one, you can go the next day, Tuesday, October 10 also from 9am to 4pm. The mobile unit will be at the health department at 2011 Eisenhower Drive.

This is cache, read story here