St Luke foundation raises money for digital mammography equipment

The digital mammogram offers clarity to the x-rays as well as projecting a more detailed image. This benefit results in less call-backs from the physicians, lower false positive rates and fewer unnecessary biopsies.
Other benefits include less exposure to radiation, a reduced waiting and examination time, and better screening for women under the age of 50 or pre-menopausal women — a definite bonus in early detection of breast cancer.
The recent controversy, regarding a study presented by the United States Preventative Health Task Force stated that it is not necessary for women under the age of 50 to get an annual mammogram and rendered self-breast exams unnecessary. The press release sent a shock wave to the medical community and sparked outrage in many medical professionals, including the staff at St. Luke Community Healthcare.
Soon after receiving the press release, Wilhelm and Sivak called each other in a state of shock.
“The minute I got this press release, I sent it to him. A minute later I got a phone call (from Sivak),” St. Luke Community Health Care Foundation Director Gayle Willhelm said.
“The key is to go to your doctor and listen to your doctor,” Sivak added.
According to the National Cancer Institute, one in 69 women in the 40-49 age group will be diagnosed with breast cancer. The statistic is slightly higher in women ages 50-59, but it’s clear that early detection is vital to the survival of someone with breast cancer.
No one knows that better than the survivors and families of survivors of women and men who detected breast cancer in its early stages.
In 1983, at the age of 41, Bobbi Culp was diagnosed with breast cancer. Bobbi, a Montana native and registered nurse had seen the negative effects of the cancer drugs and radiation while working in cancer wards in Oklahoma. She opted for a double mastectomy instead of undergoing radiation and chemotherapy.
Because of early detection, Culp had 17 more years to explore what Montana had to offer with her husband, Steve. According to Steve, his wife lived life to its fullest and took advantage of the great outdoors in the area.
Unfortunately, the cancer returned aggressively in January 2000. This time attacking Bobbi’s spine, the disease caused her spine to collapse and sent her into emergency surgery. The doctors gave her a 10 percent chance to walk again.
“(She said) 'I can work with that,'” Steve said. “She needed just a little window of opportunity.”
In the months following, the cancer left Bobbi paralyzed from the waist down and wheelchair bound. But with a positive attitude, spunky spirit and extensive physical therapy, Bobbi’s vigor for life proved stronger than the debilitating disease.
In August, nine months after the emergency surgery, Bobbi got out of her wheelchair to walk a lap at the Relay for Life in Polson.
She never returned to her chair.
That’s when the international traveling started for Bobbi and Steve.
Both avid fishermen, they started taking trips to Belize to fish as well as continuing their weekend exploration of Montana.
Though the last seven years were difficult for the couple, they still lived life vigorously.
“We picked up where we left off,” Steve said. “We picked up maybe more intensely. We would wake up on the Madison River and have all weekend to fish.”
But in July of 2007, the disease finally caught up with Bobbi, and after more than 23 years after her original diagnosis, which gave her one year to live, Bobbi passed on.
For Steve, he knows that the early detection of the disease, gave him 23 more years with the love of his life. He also believes that if digital mammography would have been available in 1983, the outcome would have been different.
In honor of his wife, Steve has pledged $5,000 to the foundation to help purchase the digital mammography unit.
“It’s something Bobbi would have believed in,” Steve said.
Steve also wants to challenge the community to give to the foundation in order to purchase the digital mammography unit that would benefit so many of their neighbors, friends and family members.
The foundation is also joining forces with St. Luke’s Employee Giving Fund, which recently donated $30,000 to purchase the digital mammography unit. The fund, which consists of St. Luke employees, also donated money for uninsured women to receive mammograms free of charge.
Employees at St. Luke have the option to donate a day’s, an hour’s work or part of their paycheck to the giving fund.
“It’s the most gracious, most giving company I have ever worked for,” Wilhelm said of St. Luke.
Wilhelm believes the cause of this generosity is due in part to the fact that the hospital is community-owned and the patients that come in are often times related to the hospital staff.
But the plight to obtain the equipment is far from over.
After receiving a grant from M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust for $189,000, the foundation has raised $74,000 and needs to raise another $115,000 to match the grant.
St. Luke’s early detection of breast cancer is a tangible issue.
In 2007 they performed 1,100 mammograms and found cancer in one out of 160 patients.
“That (one) woman out of 160 appreciates that we found it,” Sivak said.

Giving to St. Luke Community Healthcare Foundation

There are almost as many variations on ways to make a donation to St. Luke Community Healthcare Foundation as there are needs to be met. Gifts and pledges may be made over a three to five year term or the foundation can set-up a pre-authorized monthly giving program. The following are ways to donate to St. Luke Community Healthcare Foundation:
• Planned gifts
• Pledges 3-5 year terms
• Monthly giving program
• Bequests
• Charitable gift annuities
• Charitable remainder trusts
• Memorials and endowments
• Give my home, but live there for life
• Matching gifts from my / my spouse’s employer
For assistance in making a donation, please contact the St. Luke Community Healthcare Foundation staff at 406-528-5324 or fax: 406-676-0835.
The address for St. Luke Community Healthcare is:
St. Luke Community Healthcare Foundation
107 6th Ave. S.W.
Ronan, Montana  59864
Interested parties may also e-mail foundation director Gayle Wilhelm at gwilhelm@stlukehealthnet.org

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