For over 10 years, STRIDE has been connecting patients to life-saving mammograms and secondary diagnostic tests. Today, STRIDE Care Navigators are still seeing screening rate disparities among Latinx and Black patients. This disparity was exacerbated by the covid-19 pandemic. This Breast Cancer Awareness month, STRIDE is searching for additional financial support to fund uninsured patients' imagining and diagnostic health care costs.
Learn more about the screening process and impact from the perspective of 2 STRIDE patients and consider donating $150 to support 1 patient with a mammogram!
Meet Alana:
“No one should ever go through this alone. Because of Erin’s care, I never felt like I was alone… knowing that she was there, just a call away, was very comforting.”
In 2016, Alana had been in for a routine appointment at STRIDE. During this appointment, her financial screener advised her to get her annual mammogram scheduled. Although Alana had been putting it off for months, for some reason, she finally agreed. Two days after Christmas, Alana received a phone call that would change her life. The results were in from her mammogram, and there was need for a follow-up appointment. Although Alana has been a patient with STRIDE for more than twenty-five years, she never expected a call like
this.
“I hate the C-word,” Alana confided. Alana’s father and both grandmothers had battled cancer when she was younger, and she knew firsthand just what a toll this diagnosis could take on a family. Erin, a Physician’s Assistant at STRIDE, called her the very next day. Erin said she was heartbroken, a sentiment that touched Alana and made her feel truly cared for.
For two years, Alana battled her breast cancer with various complications as it spread to her lymph nodes. Toward the end of 2017, however, she was finally able to “ring the bell”—cancer-free!
Meet Trish:
Trish received the results of an abnormal screening mammogram while in South Africa. Back in the States, she came to STRIDE for a follow up. She was referred for diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound, which come with the high potential price tag of over $300 without insurance. Trish was very happy to learn that there was funding available to pay for these services, since she did not have the resources to pay for her exams out of pocket.
Trish’s diagnostic and ultrasounds showed suspicious results, and she was recommended to complete a biopsy. Once again, cost was a concern. For uninsured patients, biopsies can range in cost from $900 to $2500. Luckily, there was still available funding to pay for this additional treatment. Trish was extremely stressed until she learned that STRIDE had resources available that would cover the cost of her treatment. Upon hearing about this potentially life-saving resource, she was incredibly grateful for the opportunity to access the care she needed.
Trish stayed in contact STRIDE to share updates after her biopsy, and was overjoyed by all of the help she received. She was even able to attend her daughter’s wedding, worry-free!