Vermont Women's Wellness

At Vermont Women’s Wellness, breast surgeon Mary Stanley uses a post-visit model for distributing videos and reading materials to patients. Patients often are referred to Dr. Stanley by primary care providers in the community. Because Dr. Stanley's office staff works diligently to schedule patients as soon as possible, there usually is not enough time for patients to receive and view DVDs prior to meeting with the surgeon. At the initial meeting, Dr. Stanley describes the treatment options and gets a sense of the patient’s preferences for treatment and lifestyle. Dr. Stanley gives each patient a DVD relevant to her situation, generally either the video about early stage breast cancer or the one on DCIS. In follow up phone calls and visits, Dr. Stanley answers patients’ questions. Dr Stanley also provides women who are considering mastectomy with the DVD on Reconstruction, which they view prior to the appointment with their plastic surgeon.

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Dr. Mary Stanley is the sole breast surgeon at the Williston, Vermont clinic. 

For a runner, training needs and are factors in making decisions about cancer treatment.

Sharon found shared
decision making helped her understand her options.