Hate Mammograms? Mercyhealth In Rockford Has Options.

What's Up, Doc? is a weekly health segment on WROK sponsored by MercyHealth. Each week they highlight a different doctor/healthcare professional to come on our show and talk to us about their specialty. It has turned into one of our favorite segments. All of our doctors have exhibited a "human" side that people don't always get to see with their physicians. We encourage you to check out some of our past episodes here. We've done about 30 of these segments highlighting everything from Lyme disease to hernia repair to finding a health care plan and everything else in between. We've learned a lot and hope you can too.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month so it is very appropriate that Dr. Para was today's guest on What's Up, Doc? Dr. Para is the chair of the department of radiology at Mercyhealth. Like pretty much all of our guests on What's Up, Doc?, Dr. Para had a relaxing, assured tone that you want in your doctor.

Breast Cancer Awareness month seems to have been going on for about 2 decades now, so what more do we need to be aware of? Turns out plenty. For one, and this was the biggest point of the interview, is that Mercyhealth has another option for women that are too sensitive for mammograms to be done regularly. A new scanning technique is available that Dr. Para describes to us.

Men also aren't out of the woods when it comes to breast cancer. We asked Dr. Para about the level of concern that men should have when it comes to breast cancer. Dr. Para told us that while it is rare, he has diagnosed a handful of men with breast cancer and if there is a history in your family, you should be doing self checks and speak to your doctor if you feel something abnormal.

We thank Dr. Para for his time on today's show and look forward to our next episode of What's Up, Doc?

A new episode of What's Up, Doc? airs every Thursday morning at 8:35 on 1440 WROK.