To the editor:

Thank you to the many supporters of the Piedmont Newton Hospital Auxiliary’s annual gala for your generous donations and sponsorships, which raised $50,000. More than 250 supporters attended the event, many of whom dressed in their finest 1920s attire. The funds will go toward the purchase of a new breast MRI coil for the diagnostic imaging department at Piedmont Newton.

The breast MRI coil, funded through the hard work and largess of this community, will arm us with an invaluable weapon in our collective fight against a complex disease, for which half of our population, indeed, half the world, is at serious risk. 

The technology provides physicians with a detailed image inside the breast using magnetic resonance imaging, but it is not a substitute for an annual screening mammogram. Breast MRI is used for a variety of reasons, such as to measure cancers found in the breast, to screen for additional tumors in the breast, and to perform biopsies on suspected cancers.

The high quality of the new breast MRI coil will allow us to accommodate more types of patients and see even smaller tumors. With the new coil, hidden cancers will be revealed. Many patients will live longer, and even more will have their worries obliterated.

In each case, a woman, and, occasionally, a man, will have the quality of their days improved by finding, diagnosing and treating cancer that could have stolen their dreams. The breast MRI also can help to eliminate the fears lurking within some who have had a sister, mother, or friend taken from them.

Thank you. The words are small, but the sentiment is not. Your generosity to the hospital auxiliary and your commitment to supporting the hospital in providing excellent care in our community is greatly appreciated. 

Thank you and bless you.

Dr. Courtney M. Perez

Diagnostic Radiology Piedmont Newton Hospital