"ALL ABOUT COST"

“First we’ve got to do more research on prevention and disseminate that knowledge to the general population,” she told me. “And when they choose to get more screening, we need centers where they can get it. We haven’t funded this to the same level as we’ve funded treatment approaches. It’s going to take radical health care reform to get to a place where we’re putting a lot of money upfront to keep people healthy.”

Which brings us back to the community health center in Pacoima. After declining to make an appointment to get a mammogram, I asked to speak with the person in charge of women's health services. Twenty minutes went by before a girl my age emerged from a swinging door marked “Employees Only” and smiled at me. “We’re very sorry, but they just don’t have time to see you,” she told me. I believed her. If preventative care is a battle, then this was the front line.

“We have to make sure that all the advances of the past decade reach the most vulnerable among us in society,” said Dr. Olopade. “Then and only then will we truly be able to stand up to cancer.”

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Cat Vasko is the associate editor of SU2C Magazine. She lives in LA.