Cherie Monson and Kimberly Robison have teamed up to offer low-cost breast ultrasound screenings to women in Eden Prairie. Monson, the owner of CLM Creations, and Robison, the owner of Underneath It All, have so far hosted two of the HerScan events, and plan to host more in the future.
Both Monson and Robison have personal experience with breast cancer. Both of Robison’s grandmothers are breast cancer survivors, while Monson herself experienced a Stage 1 diagnosis, treated with lumpectomy and radiation, in 2020.
They connected through the Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce when Monson was looking for a location to host the mobile breast ultrasounds offered through HerScan, a company based in Florida that she heard about through a women’s entrepreneur group. Robison thought it would be a great fit for Underneath It All, a boutique that specializes in mastectomy products and accessories.
On the day of the event, HerScan provides an ultrasound machine and sonographer. “They just use one of our fitting rooms,” Robison said. “They bring in like a massage-type table and pop it up. She has all her equipment with her; it’s really simple.”
Monson, who acts as the official HerScan host of the events, has a table set up near the front of the store. From there, she directs people to the sign-in location and displays the hairbrush she developed, which helped with hair loss she experienced a few months after radiation treatments. The one-day events can accommodate up to 25 appointments, for which women register in advance on the HerScan site. The host also receives a free screening.
Access to screenings at younger ages a factor in participation
For the first of the Eden Prairie events, held in November 2023, Robison used the free screening for herself. Doctors had told her she was too young to get a mammogram. “But I got the ultrasound, and they actually found that I had cystic breasts, and I had to get follow-up,” Robison said. “It really just helped give me peace of mind because it is in my family, so it’s always one of those things that’s just been a worrisome thing in my head. It just felt nice to have access to something when you’re too young for mammograms.”
Several previous participants in the event appeared to be younger women to Monson and Robison. Some stated they chose ultrasound screenings over mammograms due to lower radiation exposure and better detection of cancers in dense breast tissue. A 2021 study published via the National Library of Medicine also called ultrasound better than mammogram at detecting small breast cancer, regardless of breast density.
Comfort is also a factor. The ultrasound screening requires no compression, and “Some people just aren’t comfortable with a mammogram,” Monson said.
Participants receive the results of their ultrasound screening via email within two weeks of their appointment, after a radiologist has reviewed the screening. They pay a $295 fee, which can be paid for with Health Savings Account (HSA) or Flexible Spending Account (FSA) funds but is not covered by insurance. HerScan’s website states that the cost value of the scan and results is $1,100.
Out-of-pocket costs for breast ultrasounds or mammograms covered by insurance vary by plan (they can be around $300), but women younger than 40 may have difficulty obtaining those tests from their health care providers. “A lot of women have to beg, which is just sad,” Monson said.
The ultrasound screening, Robison said, is “for early detection, because your provider’s not going to give you that unless like your mom, and your aunts, and your sisters, have had breast cancer. So it is low-cost versus paying what you would pay at your doctor’s office.”
The American Cancer Society states that breast cancer is currently the second most common cancer diagnosis in U.S. women, accounting for 30% of new cancer diagnoses in females each year. The American Cancer Society’s statistics indicate that the median age of diagnosis is 62, with overall rates of diagnosis having increased by 0.6% in recent years. For those younger than 50, according to the American Cancer Society, the rate of increase has been 1%.
Underneath It All is ‘with women throughout their journey’
Robison says that she hopes those participating in the mobile ultrasound screenings won’t need her store’s services, but if they do, they’ll know where to go. Robison and her husband purchased Underneath It All, founded in the 1980s, from the previous owners, who retired in 2021.
With the store staff all certified mastectomy fitters and the store accredited through Medicare, “We’re with women throughout their journey,” Robison said. Before surgery, they fit women for post-surgical garments with drain management; after surgery, they provide fittings and products for bras and prosthetics.
“You can’t wear a typical bra if you have prosthetics because they move around,” Robison explained. “Our bras have pockets; they’re specialized.” Those items are also generally covered by insurance long-term. “You need a prosthetic for life, so we see these women year after year,” she said.
Robison added, “We try to make the store more like a shopping trip than a doctor’s appointment because these women have had enough doctor’s appointments. So that’s why we have some clothes and some little retail items and whatnot just to make it more boutique-ish.”
Monson: ‘I never expected to have breast cancer’
Monson originally visited Underneath It All when she was exploring her own options post-surgery, including mastectomy, to mitigate future risk of a recurrence of breast cancer.
“I don’t think I ever expected to have breast cancer my entire life,” she said. “I have no family history of cancer anywhere, and it was quite the shock when I found out I had breast cancer” following an annual mammogram.
About six months after her radiation treatments, “I was losing hair like mad,” Monson said, with her hair breaking off and not growing back. She and her hairstylist eventually attributed the hair loss to the long-term effects of radiation damaging the hair roots.
Monson had previously developed a patented volumizing diffuser hairbrush that allowed her to bring one lightweight item on her travels that worked with multiple hair dryers. She discovered that the brush, called the CLM Volumizer, also worked to detangle her hair without further damage. “I was like, ‘This might help a lot of women who are having problems with hair loss,’” she said.
After her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, she retired from a previous position with CenterPoint Energy to focus her efforts on manufacturing the brush through her CLM Creations business, incorporating the mission to encourage every woman to get tested regularly for breast cancer and benefit from early detection.
Her efforts in that area brought her to HerScan and back to Underneath It All, which she originally found through a nurse navigator’s recommendation. “We try to reach out to nurse navigators so they know we’re here, and we offer these services because there’s only a handful of us in the cities that do,” Robison said.
In fact, Underneath It All is closed on Mondays because they take a mobile version of the store to sites like physical therapist and doctor offices in the cities of Buffalo, Cambridge, Coon Rapids, Faribault, and New Ulm, as well as Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.
Robison and Monson tentatively plan to host the HerScan ultrasound screening events at Underneath It All once per quarter. The event they held in March 2024 filled all of the registration slots in advance.
Underneath It All is located at 7942 Mitchell Road, in the Lone Oak Center shopping center.
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