"I have a love for my fellowman," she says, and that's what leads her to try and save their lives.

It wasn't that long ago that McDowell found herself presented with a diagnosis of breast cancer.

She had tripped and fallen at a patient's home where she was working, and company policy mandated a trip to the emergency room to be checked out.

"I normally wouldn't have gone to the doctor," she remembers. "I'd have just brushed myself off and gone on." At a followup visit with her own doctor, McDowell offhandedly mentioned that she had felt a lump during a breast self-exam.

"I hadn't told anyone but my husband," says McDowell, who adds that she wasn't really ready to admit to herself what she suspected.

He made his own examination, told her it was probably "nothing," and ordered the biopsy.

No one was more surprised than McDowell to hear that the sample was positive.

"It was a little bitty piece - it could've been missed," she says. But she was even more surprised by the next bit of news which her doctor presented her with.

Instead of several weeks of intensive, full-body radiation, she qualified for a new, targeted treatment. Called MammoSite, it delivers a concentrated dose of radiation directly to the site in the form of small "seeds," twice a day for five days.

Gone are the normal side effects and risks, such as nausea, hair loss, and organ damage.

McDowell's first reaction was disbelief - "I'm a registered nurse! Why didn't I know about this treatment?"

Now two years out from the treatment, McDowell travels the country as a volunteer for MammoSite, speaking at health fairs and conferences. The exposure allows her to follow her calling, to educate minorities about health issues.

Statistics show that minorities, especially blacks and hispanics, are among those at the most risk for health problems such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. According to the American Cancer Society, in 2003 the death rate for all cancers was 35% higher in black men and 18% higher in black women than in whites of the same gender.

"My people perish for lack of knowledge," she says, quoting a verse from the Bible.

"Minorities don't go for treatment," she says. "My goal is to educate my people, so that they may live."

She recently conducted a health fair with the aid of Mid Delta Home Health and Hospice at New Shady Grove Missionary Baptist Church. She gave away door prizes and other "freebies" hoping to attract those who need to be better able to take charge of their healthcare.

Her most recent trip was to Las Vegas, Nevada, to speak to a convention of the Black Nurses' Association.

Her story is also being told in national magazines and websites.

Now partially retired from nursing, McDowell still takes the time to show each of her patients that she cares about them. Part of that care is making sure that they have all the information they need to make the best healthcare decisions.

"How will they know if we don't tell them?" she asks.

And to be able to better speak to others about their healthcare, McDowell is currently taking Spanish classes at Northwest Mississippi Community College.

McDowell is available to speak to churches, civic groups, and health fairs, and she can be reached at 662-526-0253 or by email at idamcdowell@bellsouth.net. More information can be found at www.VoicesofMammoSite.com.

Email News Editor Melissa Turner

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