After a routine mammogram led to an unexpected breast cancer diagnosis, Nancy Fries found comfort in the advanced breast cancer care Hoag offers. Watch Nancy share her story and learn how Hoag is enhancing breast cancer detection and diagnosis through innovation made possible by philanthropy.
For Nancy Fries, breast cancer was the last thing she expected.
When her own mammogram revealed cancer, Nancy was shocked and frightened. But at her first appointment with Hoag breast surgeon Heather Macdonald, MD, she found something that helped change the course of her experience.
“The way she sat with me, she held my hand, she looked in my eyes,” Nancy says. “She treated me as a person, not just a patient.”
Her care team gave her confidence that her cancer could be treated, and Nancy began moving forward, trusting her doctors and the process.
Today, she is focused on getting back to the life she loves: running, skiing, and continuing to live an active life for many years to come.
Advancing early detection through innovation
Nancy’s experience underscores why access to advanced care matters. While mammography remains the gold standard for routine breast cancer screening and early detection, some women may benefit from additional imaging based on their individual risk factors, breast density, or other considerations.
This October, during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Hoag is expanding those options with a significant new advancement in breast imaging. Hoag is the first hospital in Orange County, and only the second in the Western United States, to offer the Koning Vera Breast CT scan.
The technology produces high-resolution, three-dimensional images of the breast in approximately seven seconds per breast, without compression, and with a radiation dose comparable to a traditional mammogram. It can be particularly useful for women with dense breast tissue, breast implants, or other circumstances where additional imaging may provide valuable diagnostic information.
The breast CT does not replace routine mammography. Instead, it complements Hoag’s comprehensive breast imaging program, which includes 3D mammography, breast ultrasound, and breast MRI. Together, these technologies give physicians more options to determine the most appropriate screening or diagnostic approach for each patient.
The addition of the Koning Vera Breast CT was made possible through philanthropic support from Hoag Innovators, a community of philanthropists, entrepreneurs, and leaders who invest in innovations that can advance care at Hoag.
Nancy has made Hoag part of her estate plan, extending her support for breast cancer care and research into the future. For her, philanthropy is a tangible way to help ensure patients have access to leading physicians, advanced technology, and the comprehensive care that made such a difference in her own journey.
“I hope that everyone realizes the power of philanthropy for cancer patients,” Nancy says. “Because of donor support, Hoag is able to build a state-of-the-art campus, recruit the finest doctors, and use the greatest technology available for all patients in our community.”
Interested in supporting breast cancer care and research at Hoag? Click below to make a difference.
