Her co-worker, Lil McGaffigan, added, aWhen you're told you've cancer, you canat method yet another word.a And thatas why these women play this kind of crucial part at Allegiance, supporting people clinically determined to have cancer understand the medical program. Because it includes physicians from many areas, doctors to radiologists to oncologists it is an unwieldy system, mentioned Karen Yacobucci, executive director of Cardiovascular and Oncology Services at Allegiance. Whilst the average number of cancer patients living in Jackson County has remained at about 800 for every of the last three years, Yacobucci said Allegiance treated nearly 1,000 new cancer cases in 2012, areflective of our regional take of patients from outside Jackson County.a McGaffigan has been a navigator for significantly more than four decades, Petri for five months. aLil was a god-send,a Yacobucci said. aHer influence was so significant that we knew on board.a we needed someone else McGaffigan focuses on patients diagnosed with lung cancer, Petri on patients with breast cancer, the 2 largest groups of patients. Other cancers are divided between the girls. Barriers are broken down by awe help to care as advocates for the patient,a McGaffigan said. Because both are nurses a' an Allegiance dependence on the positioning a' the ladies might help explain from what doctors believed to insurance concerns. Bobbi Flinn, 64, of Jackson had a lumpectomy at Allegiance a year ago and hadnat decided if she'd have chemotherapy at Allegiance or an hospital, which she required another opinion. However the follow-up call from one other health system made Flinn aalmost hysterical. It absolutely was the first day I had been alone after surgery and I get this call about another surgery. I called my cousin in hysterics and she said to try and remember the girl I talked with at Allegiance. I said, aOh yes, Lil.aa Flinn had talked to McGaffigan before her surgery and was told to publish down her phone number and name and tuck it into her cancer file ajust in case.a aLil calmed me down, never said anything bad in regards to the other hospital, viewed my files and she was very reasonable, very positive in addition to loving,a Flinn said. aMy man frequently said he wonders if Lil goes home during the night and knows exactly what a difference she makes in the lives she touches.a McGaffigan and Petri are well conscious of the way the shock of a cancer diagnosis thinks since each has received it. Petri is really a breast cancer survivor, McGaffigan is really a two-time cancer survivor. aI never heard another word the doctor said,a McGaffigan said concerning the diagnosis. Her husband was with her, thankfully, so he was in a position to explain the medical plan to her. As individual navigators, some of the work is calling patients, some seeing them face-to-face in the Gayle Jacobs Cancer Center. They have also learned that in this economy, some people canat make their health their No. 1 priority, even a cancer diagnosis. aIf they canat work, they canat put food on the table,a McGaffigan said. aThey have therefore many financial problems and to increase cancer to the mix can be frustrating for them. It is quite humbling for us.a
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