January 2001

Education on Health Leads to Focus on Healthy Recovery

For Jackie, this was a time of quiet desperation. She discovered lumps in her breasts, but didn’t know where to go from there.

"How do I know if it’s cancer," Jackie thought. "And what do I need to know if it is?"

Learning What to Know

Jackie tried self-examination and diagnosis, although she really didn’t know what to look or feel for. Even though her situation continued to worsen, Jackie didn’t seek professional medical help because she didn’t have insurance. That’s when a friend told her about classes at the Center for Health & Wellness, at which United Way funds prevention services.

Jackie was hesitant. She didn’t want to ask any one for any sort of free help. "If I did have cancer, I thought I could fight that," Jackie remembers thinking. "But I couldn’t fight the cancer and beg someone for help."

Reluctantly she went to a "Free to Know" class at the Center. The class presents breast health basics, such as learning the tools that aid in the detection and self-examination of breast cancer and offers a free clinical breast exam and mammogram.

Changing the Outlook of Health Care

"A large focus of the Center for Health & Wellness is to target the prevention and wellness of chronic illnesses specifically for African-Americans," says Arneatha Martin, CEO and co-president at the Center for Health & Wellness. "For instance, it’s shown that African-American women contract breast cancer less than others, but nearly twice as many die from it…so prevention is key."

Through the services offered in the Center’s education class, Jackie was diagnosed with breast cancer. "I didn’t know what I was going to do," says Jackie. "I came to the class to find out that I was okay, now I was devastated—not over the cancer—but that I didn’t have insurance."

As a sign-up center for Project Access (a program that provides free health care to the low-income uninsured and partially funded by United Way of the Plains), the Center for Health & Wellness was able to bring Jackie hope for her illness. Jackie qualified for a Project Access card that covered the cost of physicians, treatments and prescriptions and she says that she received the same care as individuals with insurance.

Focus on Recovery

Today, Jackie is recovering from her recent double mastectomy surgery, and realizes what her outcome might have been if she hadn’t took that first step in going to an education class. "I had resigned myself to letting my life go," she says. "I never knew that there were so many things out in our own community to help people.

"This whole process has been like an invisible hand coming down and making something wonderful and visible possible," says Jackie. "Learning how to detect my illness and then not having to worry about the incredible cost of my treatments allowed me so much peace of mind that I was finally able to focus on my illness."

Call United Way of the Plains at 267-1321 to find out more about how your money is helping our community.