andldquo;This new machine saved my life.”

Judy Garrett, 70, of Mountain Home had a brush with breast cancer that is frightening.

In December, what she thought was going to be a routine mammogram turned into a fight for her life.

Garrett spoke to an audience of Twin Lakes Area residents Wednesday at the official opening of Baxter Regional Medical Centerandrsquo;s new Breast Imaging Center.

The center boasts a new three-dimensional tomosynthesis digital mammography and densitometry machine. The $1.7 million technology captures high-resolution views of breast tissue from multiple angles and converts them into 3D images. It shows image slides down to 1 millimeter, says Dr. Kyle McAlister, medical director of mammography.

After having her mammography last year, Garrett says she got a call from the doctor right away.

andldquo;They saw something that ‘wasn’t good,’” she said. Her family doctor called McAlister, and she was worked in for a surgical consult that afternoon. A needle biopsy revealed she had cancer.

Garrett says she chose a partial mastectomy.

The type of cancerous tissue she had andmdash; although very aggressive — would have taken three to five years to diagnose, she said.

But, with the new technology, tissue that is very small or concealed behind other fibrous or dense breast tissue is revealed.

andldquo;They are giving me the best possible care,” she said. “I will be eternally grateful to Baxter Regional Medical Center for saving my life.” New center

Seeing the entrance to the new Breast Imaging Center andmdash; located directly behind the Cline Emergency Center — visitors are struck by the difference in design from other hospital areas.

With the soft colors, lighting and music, together with frosted glass, warm woods, lush fabric treatments and striking artwork, center visitors said Wednesday it is reminiscent of a spa or the waiting area in a boutique hotel.

Instead of examination rooms, patients are escorted to softly lit, plush andldquo;dressing rooms” where they change into spa robes for their mammograms.

When visitors are shown the 3D mammography machine, they view breast tissue images that are high-resolution and detailed.

The 3D mammography technology available at Baxter Regional is the only one in a two-state area, said BRMCandrsquo;s CEO Ron Peterson.

andldquo;Rarely does a community hospital get a chance to say you’re first in medical technology,” Peterson said. “We are more than proud of this beautiful addition to BRMC.”

Barney Larry, who heads up the hospitalandrsquo;s foundation, said the development of the center was a team effort — with thanks going to hospital staff and the board of directors as well as the foundation and the community.

andldquo;Without our community support, this probably wouldn’t have happened,” he said.

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