Free services offer hope for beating
breast cancer
Programs through the Ohio University Heritage College of
Osteopathic
 Medicine
provide free breast cancer screenings and early
treatment for local uninsured
and underinsured
By Colleen Kiphart
Oct. 6, 2008
When Anne found a
lump in her breast, she thought little of it. She
had found benign cysts in the past – and paid out of
pocket to have them removed and examined. If this
were a movie, a foreshadowing refrain may have
swelled in the background as she did her
self-examination, fading to a tenuous tune as she
dismissed it. But there is no soundtrack to warn us
of what is to come, no warning sign that says, “This
time is different.”
Anne, a local woman
whose real name we're not using to protect her
privacy, was a diabetic who had trouble staying
insured. As she needed it more, health insurance
became harder to afford and, ultimately, impossible
to obtain.
“She was waiting to
get a mammogram until she turned 65, which is when
Medicare would have kicked in,” said Kathy Trace,
M.H.A., director of OU-HCOM's Community Health
Programs and friend of Anne’s. “She died two days
before her 65th birthday.”
According to the
American Medical Association, 46 million Americans
are currently uninsured, which can lead to a cycle
of self-diagnosis, self-neglect and self-denial that
can be fatal.
A few weeks ago,
before Anne succumbed to breast cancer, she implored
Trace to tell her story. According to Trace, Anne’s
tragedy is a common one – but in Southeastern Ohio
at least, she said, “it doesn’t have to be.”
Trace, a registered
nurse, and her colleagues at CHP, offer free and
reduced-cost mammograms, ultrasounds, biopsies and
other diagnostic tests for uninsured and
underinsured women who are at high risk for
developing cancer.
The services are
provided through CHP's Healthy Adult Breast
Screening Program and funded by both the Columbus
affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the
Ohio Breast and Cervical Cancer
Project (BCCP).
Trace explained
that all women over the age of 50 qualify for being
“high risk,” as do women with previous breast
abnormalities and/or a family history of breast
cancer.
“When an uninsured
patient is diagnosed with cancer, the BCCP refers
them to a primary care physician in the state,”
Trace said. “And if the women are members of the
BCCP before they are diagnosed, (the BCCP)
also covers the full cost of treatment.”
Between March 1994
and March 2006, the program screened 49,558 women
for breast cancer.
“Many of these
women return each year, using the mobile unit as
their primary ob/gyn,” said Cindy Greenlee, M.S.N.,
a nurse practitioner with Student Health Services
and CHP, who works with the mobile screening unit.
But, as Anne’s
story attests, more needs done to raise awareness of
this program.
Trace, who had
known Anne for years, met with her when Anne
complained of back and bone pain. Unaware of Anne’s
breast lump, Trace referred her to a local
physician. Unfortunately, the physician who
ultimately noticed and diagnosed her cancer was not
affiliated with the BCCP. With the diagnosis of
advanced breast cancer from an outside physician, it
was too late to join the BCCP and qualify for free
treatment.
“She would have
been a perfect candidate for this service, had we
known earlier,” Trace said.
Before she died,
Anne expressed her desire to spread the word to
uninsured community members about the importance of
early detection – and about OU-HCOM’s free services.
Trace described
Anne as an open and generous person, fondly
remembered and sorely missed by her family and wide
circle of friends. “She was always one to help
others. This is one way for that to continue – her
way of being a friend to those she never met.”
OU-HCOM’s Community
Health Programs cover a 15-county area through both
its mobile health van and its permanent Free Clinic
on the second floor of Parks Hall in Athens.
When Trace arrived
in 2000, OU-HCOM staff nurses told her that they
considered the Healthy Adult Breast Screening
Program to be among the most critical in terms of
community impact, but the program had seen many
stops and starts over the years, due to inconsistent
funding.
Trace aggressively
sought grants to revive the program. In recent
years, Komen has been one of the program’s greatest
supporters, helping to fund services, education and
more. OU-HCOM breast cancer screenings also are among
programs affiliated with the Appalachian Health Care
Access Project, which received a substantial
one-time grant from the Ohio Department of Health
and Human Services this year.
The two biggest
risk factors for developing breast cancer – growing
older and being a woman – are unavoidable, Trace
said. But regular self-examinations, discussions
with your doctor, and yearly mammograms – all in
conjunction with a healthy lifestyle – can reduce
your risk and give you the greatest advantage in the
fight against cancer: finding it early.
Early detection has
meant everything to Florence, a local woman
currently undergoing chemotherapy. When Florence
found a breast lump earlier this year, she went to a
local doctor who referred her to CHP for screening.
She joined the BCCP and was promptly diagnosed. She
qualified for free treatment.
Janice Smith,
nurse coordinator for CHP – and herself a breast
cancer survivor – regularly follows up on her
progress. She’s feeling weak, but as Janice assured
her over the phone, “This is the worst part of it.”
According to
Greenlee, fear deters some women from investigating
breast lumps. But she believes that’s changing
thanks to a national emphasis on early detection
through organizations like Susan G. Komen for the
Cure, and the increased availability of resources,
such as CHP screenings.
“Many women don’t
even do breast exams because they’re afraid they’ll
find a lump,” Greenlee said. “They think, ‘What will
I do if you find a lump?’ We give them hope.”
To schedule a
breast exam through the Healthy Adult Breast
Screening Program, call 1-800-844-2654. |
