Boundless Blessings and God's Grace

Written Testimony for January 28, 2015 ND Human Resources Committee Hearing on Breast Density Legislation

I am happy to report that ND House Bill No. 1370 – Mammography Result Notices legislation was introduced in the North Dakota House of Representatives this past week. The introduced bill can be found at http://www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/64-2015/documents/15-0766-01000.pdf?20150124174342.

For those of you who have met me, listened to me speak, or helped me in completing outreach about getting this legislation introduced so it could potentially become law in the State of North Dakota, you will know how important this first step is to me! I am a breast cancer survivor who had normal mammograms for 12 years, yet was diagnosed with Stage 2b breast cancer that had been growing undetected for 2-4 years -11 months after a “normal” mammogram. I have extremely dense breast tissue, but was never told that I had dense breasts.

After enduring a double lumpectomy, removal of 9 lymph nodes from beneath my left arm, 16 chemotherapy treatments with three different chemotherapy drugs, and 33 radiation treatments, which ultimately left me on long-term disability for an initial period of 5-7 years, I promised myself I would try to make a difference for those who would be diagnosed with breast cancer in the future.

Since I have only driven three times in the past year, and those were short distances in town, a dear friend of mine will be driving me from Fargo to Bismarck, ND next Wednesday, Jan. 28th, 2015, so I can testify at the House Human Services Committee meeting at 10:00 a.m. in the Fort Union Room at the State Capitol in Bismarck, ND on House Bill No. 1370.

If passed, this legislation would mandate that people in ND going through mammograms be notified if they have dense breast tissue, be educated about potential risks associated with dense breast tissue, and be encouraged to go forward for additional testing to find potential breast cancer at its earliest stage. This legislation could save lives, trauma to breast cancer patients and millions of healthcare dollars for North Dakotans diagnosed with breast cancer because breast cancer will be found at its earliest stage. We don’t yet have a cure for breast cancer, but we can have a significant impact on those walking the path of a breast cancer battle after us.

My testimony for the hearing, which will be submitted as written testimony for the record, is attached. I would encourage you to contact the legislators serving on the ND House Human Services Committee in writing, by email, or phone, to let them know you support this legislation and would ask them to support its passage. Their contact information is below:

Human Services Committee Members:

Rep. Robin Weisz, Chairman, ND Human Services Comm., Dist. 14 – rweisz@nd.gov.

Rep. Curt Hofstad, Vice Chairman, ND Human Services Comm., Dist. 15 –chofstad@nd.gov

Rep. Bert Anderson, Dist. 2 – bertanderson@nd.gov

Rep. Dick Anderson, Dist. 6 – dickanderson@nd.gov

Rep. Rich S. Becker, Dist. 43 – rsbecker@nd.gov

Rep. Chuck Damschen, Dist. 10 – cdamschen@nd.gov

Rep. Alan Fehr, Dist. 36 – afehr@nd.gov

Rep. Dwight Kiefert, Dist. 24 – dhkiefert@nd.gov

Rep. Gail Mooney, Dist. 20 – gmooney@nd.gov

Rep. Naomi Muscha, Dist. 24 – nmuscha@nd.gov

Rep.Kylie Oversen, Dist. 42 – koversen@nd.gov

Rep.Todd Porter, Dist. 34 – tkporter@nd.gov

Rep.Jay Seibel, Dist. 33 – jayseibel@nd.gov

The contact information for the five sponsors of the bill are listed below. I know they would appreciate hearing from you as well about your support of this important bill.

Rep. Pamela Anderson, Dist. 41 – pkanderson@nd.gov

Rep. Kathy Hawken, Dist. 46 – khawken@nd.gov

Rep. Alisa Mitskog, Dist. 25 – amitskog@nd.gov

Rep. Marie Strinden, Dist. 18 – mjstrinden@nd.gov

Sen. Carolyn C. Nelson, Dist. 21 – cnelson@nd.gov

I would appreciate your prayers of support as I make this trip and testify. Thank you for all of your past support and your support in the future!