# She was 59 and had never had a mammogram

> A stomach ache sent Kathey Dailey to the ER, and a free mobile screening found the cancer nobody was looking for.
- Title: She was 59 and had never had a mammogram · Valleynewslive
- Summary: A stomach ache sent Kathey Dailey to the ER, and a free mobile screening found the cancer nobody was looking for. If cost is the reason you are skipping a…
- Keywords: breast cancer, mammograms, uninsured, screening, health access, news, local, never, mammogram, Valleynewslive
- Source: Valleynewslive — https://valleynewslive.com/2026/09/14/project-pink-helps-covers-cost-mammogram-uninsured-woman
- Published: 2026-09-14T13:49:45.866+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: breast cancer, mammograms, uninsured, screening, health access, news, local
## It started with stomach pain
Kathey Dailey went to a Charlotte emergency room in 2023 for stomach pain. By six that evening an oncologist was standing at her bed with a diagnosis.

> I'm sorry to let you know you have cancer, and I just started crying
## Then doctors pushed for a mammogram
The uterine cancer diagnosis came first. Her doctors urged her to get screened for breast cancer too, something she had never done in 59 years.

> I was 59 years old and had never had a mammogram
## Two days later, a second call
The mammogram came back positive. Dailey is now in treatment for stage four metastatic breast cancer, found only because someone insisted she get checked.

> Two days later, the phone call came, and it said, 'you have breast cancer'
## No insurance, no problem
Dailey was self-employed and uninsured. Project Pink covered the cost, a partnership between Levine Cancer Institute and Charlotte Radiology that brings free mobile mammograms to uninsured women.
## Screening is only half of it
Dr. Rhea Rogers says the mammogram works best paired with regular self-exams. One catches what the other misses.

> Self-breast examination in conjunction with mammograms is going to give you your best shot at picking up something
## Ask what help exists
Rogers points women worried about cost toward low-price clinics and hospital radiology departments, many of which quote cash discounts for direct-pay patients.

> I would look at all of your resources available to you
## Key takeaway

If cost is the reason you are skipping a mammogram, ask anyway. Free mobile screenings, sliding-scale clinics and cash-discount hospital radiology departments all exist.