Kim Howell |
Previous Survivor Stories
McKees Rocks, Allegheny County
Her Diagnosis
I discovered a lump in my breast around the
1st of September 2007 and I knew
immediately that it was bad.
I had no
health insurance and called the
American Cancer Society. They gave me a
voucher for a mammogram which I took to
Allegheny General Hospital. I had a
mammogram and an ultrasound-guided
needle biopsy. Two days later I met with the
surgeon who told me I had infiltrating
ductal carcinoma, and shewent through my
options - mastectomy or lumpectomy - and
talked about a battery of tests, including
MRI. I told her I didn’t have insurance and
didn’t know how I could have even the tests,
let alone surgery.
Saving Grace
The hospital social worker spent some
time with me going over various programs
and, as hard as she tried, she couldn’t find
anything that would help me. I sat there and
cried. I decided I could live with the cancer
in me and die from it, or find some way to
make payment arrangements which would
mean I’d lose my house. Then Carolyn, the
surgeon’s nurse, came in to the room and
handed me a piece paper with a phone
number and the name Adagio* written on it
and she said, “Call them. They will see that
you are taken care of.”
Within seven days of contacting Adagio I
was approved for the FREE Treatment
Program for Breast Cancer (BCCPT), which
has completely covered all my testing, blood
work, surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and
will cover me for tamoxifen for the next five
years. I was able to have treatment where I
wanted, at the breast care center at Allegheny
General Hospital. BCCPT has also allowed
me to have the OncoTypeDX, an amazing
test that measures risk of recurrence. The test
indicated that I have a 30% chance of
recurrence within 10 years.
“I don’t want anyone
to be afraid to go
to the doctor or feel
that they are less
important than
people who
have insurance.”
- Kim Howell |
Speaking Out to Help Others
The FREE Treatment for Breast Cancer
Program allowed me to be positive because I
wasn’t concerned about where I was going to get the money for all this. I was able to fight
breast cancer with all my might without
directing any energy to money issues.
My only concern has been that the social
worker, who was genuinely trying to help
me, did not know about BCCPT. Every
surgeon’s office should know about this, and
the professionals who diagnose the breast
cancer in cities, towns, rural communities,
everywhere. That’s why I
agreed to speak at
the PBCC’s FREE Treatment Program for
Breast Cancer (BCCPT) Seminar. I would
have never spoken in public before, but this
experience has made me very passionate. I
don’t want anyone to be afraid to go to the
doctor or to feel that they are less important
than people who have insurance. I want
them to know that they matter, that they
need to live, and that there are supportive
people and this wonderful program to help
them.
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