Silver’s story
Three years had passed before Silver learned the sickness that had forced her to quit her job and spend $93,000 in health care was cancer. By that time, she was so sick with high temperatures, vomiting, severe bloating, diarrhea, and fatigue, she had shuttered herself in her home, unable to leave. “I tried to deal with it,” Silver said. “I tried to get better on my own.”
Out of other options, Silver went to the Free Clinic of Southwest Washington. She remembers the moment vividly. “I was skeptical because I knew they only provide basic health care. I was number 26 out of 35 in the waiting room. But they kept passing me up until the place emptied out.
“Finally the nurse told me they waited for everyone to leave because mine was a bigger problem. ‘We needed to spend all of our time with you,’ he said. Before that, most doctors treated me like a number. I came to a free clinic and there were people that cared? I was floored.”
Following the initial examination, Silver had an appointment with Julia Ross, Care Coordinator for Project Access Clark County. Julia sent Silver to Dr. Rushing at Compass Oncology for a CAT scan.
“Dr. Rushing was honest and said he didn’t know what it was,” Silver said. “He laid out my options and a plan. Pathology said it was Stage 2 cancer. The tumor was 13 centimeters across – that’s huge! I’d had it for years. I couldn’t decide if it looked like a loaf of bread under my skin or an alien baby growing inside of me. At 42 I wasn’t ready for a complete hysterectomy.”
It was particularly hard to swallow because Silver had just lost her mother to cancer. Coincidentally, Dr. Rushing also treated Silver’s mother, and Silver got the same chemotherapy nurse, “Nurse Sharon”. Project Access assisted Silver with chemotherapy costs and medications as well as the successful surgery.
Project Access Clark County eventually helped Silver enroll in welfare so she could have some income of her own to pay for her care. “I had ‘chemo brain’ – you get stupid,” Silver said. “I couldn’t do the simplest things. They even helped me fill out the welfare forms. I just wanted to get to the point where I didn’t need to tap Project Access resources. Now I have state medical insurance. I told the people at the Free Clinic, ‘When I’m feeling better, whether I have money or time, you’re getting it’.”
Silver is now cancer free. “The day I had my last chemo was also my birthday. My birthday was the day I survived cancer. It was a double celebration! Now I’m at great risk for breast cancer, and I elected mastectomy. I’m not happy about it, but it’s better than cancer.”
According to Silver, “These people not only saved my life, they also restored my faith in humanity and in God. I had felt abandoned for so long. No one is making them do this, they are doing it of their own free will because they care. Julia and Marti Anne [Gilman] went above and beyond their duty. Every day I wake up thanking them.
“I’m feeling great. I’m going back to work, though I couldn’t do enough to pay everything back I’m so thankful. Whether you spend one second contributing to Project Access or give a single dollar, know that it would be a sad world without Project Access.”
(February 2010)
Photo credit: Andie Petkus Photography
