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Making cancer survivors of the uninsured

By Colleen Kiphart
Illustration by Danette Pratt
 

When Trace arrived in 2000, OU-COM staff nurses told her that they considered the Healthy Adult Program breast cancer screenings to be among the most critical in terms of community impact, but the screenings have seen many stops and starts 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. OU-COM breast cancer screenings also are among programs affiliated with the Appalachian Health Care Access Project, which received a substantial grant from the Ohio Department of Health and Human Services in both 2008 and 2009.

The two biggest risk factors for developing breast cancer—growing older and being a woman—are unavoidable, Trace says. But regular self-examinations and yearly mammograms, in conjunction with a healthy lifestyle, provide the greatest advantage in fighting cancer: finding it early.

Early detection has meant everything to Appalachian Ohio native Joyce*. In 2008, Joyce felt a stinging in her chest. “And I thank God that he put that stinging there because I never would have felt that lump otherwise.” She had gone four years without a mammogram.

Despite her lack of insurance, she immediately saw her primary care physician. “I’ve worked my whole life, but, it’s like my doctor said, I’m just one of those people who fell through the cracks.” She may have fallen through the cracks when it comes to health insurance, but fortunately her physician was familiar with programs to assist the uninsured.

“He set me up with CHP and the American Cancer Society and they got the biopsy, diagnosed the cancer and took care of the surgery,” Joyce said, referring to her mastectomy.

“My family has been so supportive. My granddaughter, Brittney, refused to leave my side,” says Joyce, who adds that Janice Smith, nurse coordinator for CHP and fellow breast cancer survivor, regularly follows up on her progress. “Everyone has been so helpful and loving and caring. The Ohio BCCP even sent a home nurse to help us those first few days after my surgery.”

Five months after her diagnosis, in March, Joyce chatters brightly into the phone, her voice brimming with gratitude and steely strength. She has completed her chemotherapy and now is finishing radiation treatment. Joyce’s body seems to be responding to the treatments, and the cancer present in her blood has been steadily declining.

According to Greenlee, fear deters some women from investigating breast lumps. “They think, ‘What will I do if you find a lump?’ I want them to know that we give them hope.”

She believes the national emphasis on early detection through organizations like Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and the increased availability of resources, such as CHP screenings, are encouraging women to seek care.

When asked if she has any advice for uninsured women, Joyce offers this: “Your health is your life. Get the help you need, and don’t let your mammograms go. I want to tell women not to be afraid. There are people to help you; you just need to look.”

*Names have been changed to protect individual privacy.

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