Navigating Cancer
There are substantial barriers to care for uninsured and underinsured patients. When a patient receives a cancer diagnosis or suspects that they may have cancer, one of the most pressing barriers is access - they are unsure where to go or whom to call first.
Angela Fochesato is a cancer patient navigator with Healthy Acadia’s Downeast Cancer Patient Navigation Program, in affiliation with Beth C. Wright Cancer Resource Center. As a navigator, Fochesato helps to guide patients through and around barriers in the complex cancer care system to help ensure timely diagnosis, treatment, and support. This support is critical to survival and early detection, and the medical community in the U.S. is seeing huge successes through patient navigation programs.
Here, Fochesato shares a recent experience with one community member.
“In May 2021, I received a call from Jane.* The young woman explained that she lost her job and her health insurance during the pandemic. She was scared and fearing the absolute worst [a possible cancer diagnosis], based on her symptoms as well as her gut.
As a Navigator, I wouldn’t let those hardships become a barrier in getting the services and answers this young lady so greatly needed and deserved. I assured her that we would get her linked with services and seen as soon as possible.
I asked Jane if she was familiar with the Maine CDC Breast and Cervical Health Program (MBCHP). She was not. I gave her an overview of the program and collected the required information from her to get her set up with an appointment. I asked if she could hold for one moment as I tried to reach the director at MBCHP, she said yes. I was able to set Jane up an appointment with the director at MBCHP with Jane that every same day.
Jane was in disbelief since she assumed it would take a while to be seen. Within 45 minutes, she was set up with a phone appointment that same day.
I called her back with instructions and what to expect during her visit. Jane was ecstatic, yet filled with feelings of, “What if…?” I encouraged her not to be fearful and assured her that I would be with her along the way. We both shared a moment of laughter during the call as well.
Because Jane was a patient with symptoms who would be receiving diagnostic testing through the MBCHP program, I stayed in touch with her as she waited to receive the results. When she did, her life was once again changed - she was diagnosed with cancer.
Jane was somber, yet optimistic and thankful she had learned of the MBCHP program. We talked briefly and reviewed her upcoming appointments, what to expect, made her list of questions to ask the doctors, planned her travel, lodging, and aftercare. She is currently in treatment, and I plan to keep in touch with her for as long as she allows, and as long as she needs my services. This is what our Cancer Patient Navigation Program is all about, and I am grateful to be a part of it.”
“ I am thankful to have the support of a compassionate cancer patient navigator like Angela who showed up for me and other women and men in need, guiding her patients through medical, financial, and emotional hurdles. She is truly more than a navigator, she’s a godsend! I am also thankful she linked me with the MBCHP and for the amazing program they offer.”
“I know that Jane’s situation could’ve turned out very differently due to appointment delays from the pandemic,” Fochesato concluded. “However, I am so very grateful that Jane reached out to me and together we were able to make an impact on her cancer.”
The Downeast Cancer Patient Navigator Program is a proactive approach to helping patients overcome the barriers of cost, fear, and misinformation surrounding the disease and its prevention. By helping cancer patients without Washington County navigate the healthcare system, navigators provide the vision that gives the patient, their caregiver, family, friends and loved ones hope.
Services the navigator provides include:
Education and outreach in the community
Guidance through screening and diagnostic exams
Support through treatment and survivorship
Assistance with financial, administrative, and emotional issue
For more information or to request cancer patient navigation services, click here.
*Name has been changed to protect patient privacy.