School Telehealth Leads to Early Detection of Abnormal Cyst

Mya Simmons and her brother Marcus love playing outside at their grandmother’s house in Pinewood, S.C. They both also go to school in the area. A visit to the school nurse’s office one day ended up being something more serious for Mya. 

Lorrie Smart, the telepresenter at the school, noticed the lump on Mya's throat first, and then got the telehealth provider, Leigh Arden Beck from the Medical University of South Carolina to take a look. “You can’t know exactly what something like that is,” she said, “so I referred her to ENT who did further imaging and came up with her diagnosis.”

After her diagnosis, Mya ended up having the cyst surgically removed and is now back to normal hanging out with her brother. Beck was glad that they were able to catch it before it became more serious. “It’s something that without being able to see her over telemedicine, without the close attention to detail during the visit, may not have been noticed until further down the road.”