Cancer patients face dozens of difficult and confusing decisions throughout their treatment. What treatment approach is best? Should I get a second opinion? How am I going to pay for all of this? Nurse navigators are a fast-growing group of professionals who help patients answer these critical questions.
Recently, this article in the Wall Street Journal highlighted this growing field and how they are helping patients make informed decisions. So what is a nurse navigator? Usually they are a professional nurse who helps patients literally navigate the health care system.
Being diagnosed with an illness, like cancer, is a major blow for anyone. It is difficult enough to deal with the news of diagnosis, when you add on the responsibility of having to sort out appointments, determine the best course of treatment, and figure out how to tell all of your loved ones about the diagnosis, it can become overwhelming very quickly. That is where navigators come in. Nurse navigators act as advocates for their patients and help coordinate care while making the treatment process as easy as possible for their patients.
At GiveForward we want to applaud the WSJ for taking the time to recognize navigators and the critical role they play in the lives of those diagnosed with a serious illness. But the Wall Street Journal isn’t the only one raising awareness of nurse navigators.
Groups like NCONN (National Coalition of Oncology Nurse Navigators) provide a professional space for navigators to gather together and share what they have learned. This year, GiveForward is honored to be speaking at NCONN’s annual conference, addressing ways that nurse navigators can provide their patients with the best ways to ask for help during a time of need.
But we aren’t the only ones who know how amazing nurse navigators are, so go on and share your favorite story about how a nurse navigator help you or your loved one!
The price of pregnancies may be prompting some parents-to-be to chose a home birth rather than a hospital stay, at least that is what some suggest in a new article by the Huffington Post.
This article explores why 20% more parents are choosing to have a home birth than in 2004. It talks with one mother who gave birth at home because she and her husband did not have insurance.
About home birth, Becca Seitz of Portland, Ore. says “It was never on my radar, until we couldn’t afford otherwise. I’m granola but not that granola. It cost us $3,300 as opposed to over $10,000 in the hospital.”
While some may site the cost of a hospital stay as the reason for their home birth, according to doula Bridget Foley, “cost is definitely an issue, but for most people, not the main reason they consider home births.” Rather, she says it is a decision that weighs a number of different factors, cost being one of a number of other considerations.
But it is important to recognize that this article raises an issue that an increasing number of Americans are facing – when you bring home baby for the first time, you bring home some pretty serious medical bills as well. In fact, Thomson Healthcare estimated the average cost of having a baby was over $8,000.
While baby showers and gifts often cover some of the essentials like furniture and diapers, what about covering the expense of the hospital stay? We are interested in hearing from you – would you or anyone you know consider a home birth because of cost? Would a fundraiser to help cover the cost of having a baby change this? Why or why not?
In honor of National Young Adult Cancer Awareness Week, we want to share a video put together by some awesome organizations who make it their business to help young adults cope with cancer.
We hope you’ll take a minute this week to help raise awareness of the fact that over 70,000 Americans between the ages of 15 and 40 are diagnosed every year with cancer.
On World Autism Awareness Day, we thought it would be a great time to appreciate that even though there is no cure for autism, the iPad and its apps are becoming a welcome addition to the repertoire of learning tools for autistic children. One of the most prominent characteristics of children diagnosed with autism is their impairments in communication. Although traditional methods of therapy will always be crucial in developing better communication and verbal skills, a recent technological advancement is changing the scene.
Since an extra iPad is not typically incorporated into a family’s budget, many parents of autistic children are seeking other ways to be able to welcome this life-changing tool into their child’s life. GiveForward allows these families to achieve this dream; and here’s how: read more…
Late last week, LIVESTRONG opened its first LIVESTRONG Cancer Navigation Center in Austin, Texas. The Center is dedicated to providing free one-on-one support and guidance for anyone affected by cancer. This move is part of an encouraging new movement in the cancer community.
Lance Armstrong at the new LIVESTRONG Cancer Navigation Center
More and more we’re seeing centers, organizations and even nursing positions emerge that are dedicated to helping patients navigate their way through what happens after a cancer diagnosis. This includes navigating emotional support, insurance and financial concerns, and treatment concerns to name a few.
Too often, patients are given a diagnosis, told their options and sent home to figure it out on their own. Navigation centers and nurse/patient navigators are there to provide support and in most cases they quite literally help patients navigate a scary diagnosis.
We here at GiveForward are so excited about this new patient-centric shift in the industry, but our challenge to everyone in the community is, how can we keep it going? What steps can each of us take to work towards encouraging more navigation centers and nurses for patients across the nation? We want to hear from people in the cancer community. What do the next steps look like?
Families traveling to seek cancer treatment can now benefit from the combined efforts of two great organizations.
Compass To Care, The Mike & Sandy Ernsdorff Childhood Cancer Foundation, and Angel Flight Central announced a new partnership earlier this week. Their combined efforts will serve children with cancer who must travel to receive treatment.
Compass to Care helps families schedule and pay for travel arrangements while seeking treatment, Angel Flight Central provides free flights at times of personal and community crisis. These two groups are working together to get families to their destinations, set up meals, lodging, and take care of ground transportation. The work handled by this partnership provides a immense relief for families who are already coping with an overwhelming situation.
A big high five to Compass to Care and Angel Flight Central from the whole GiveForward team, we are so excited to see two such awesome groups working together to help families in need. Congrats guys!
Dealing with a cancer diagnosis is frightening enough but what about when there are children involved? One author has tackled this tough topic in the book “Nowhere Hair” by Sue Galder. A favorite here at GiveForward, this book and the accompanying website helps parents with the difficult task of explaining cancer to kids.
A cancer survivor herself, a few years ago Sue Galder had to figure out how to tell her son that she had cancer. From that, the book “Nowhere Hair” was born.
It is a story that starts out as a mystery and follows a little girl as she tries to figure out what happened to her mother’s missing hair. This children’s book is a great way to start a difficult conversation about preparing young ones for living and loving someone going through chemotherapy.
We want to thank Sue for tackling a tough conversation and making it just a little bit easier. For more on Sue, her book or how to donate a copy in someone’s honor please visit the Nowhere Hair site.
Whether being declared the next Silicon Valley or heralded as the birthplace of dozens of new tech startups, Chicago has been dubbed the place to be for young entrepreneurs.
This atmosphere, abuzz with creativity and the kind of adrenaline rush that can only come from an idea that might turn out to be the next ‘big’ thing was what sparked an idea for two local organizers.
The brainchild of Stella Fayman and Tim Jahn, Entrepreneurs Unpluggd hosted their first event earlier this month with close to 200 attendees. The audience was treated to an evening of discussions and anecdotes from successful entrepreneurs in an intimate “unpluggd” format. Getting beyond the “conference keynote full of theory and fluff” this event allows for discussion and interaction on a manageable scale and cuts right to the topics attendees want to tackle.
A big GiveForward high-five to Stella and Tim for their work to bring together a growing community of tech startup pioneers.
Often one of the biggest hurdles for those facing a medical crisis is grappling with the healthcare system here in the United States.
Kairol Rosenthal
Today we wanted to give a shout out to a thyroid cancer survivor who is providing some insight for those who are currently facing the healthcare maze.
Kairol Rosenthal, author of “Everything Changes”, a book about dealing with cancer in your 20s and 30s, wrote a great post on Coping With Cancer about some of the best ways to take control of your medical situation and make the best decisions for you.
One idea that we wanted to add to her list was in the category “Where To Find A Great Doctor”. Kairol suggests getting referrals, visiting websites, checking journals, basically doing your homework.
One tip to add to that is research whether any local media provide insight into the medical community. For example, Chicago Magazine annually lists the “Top Doctors” in the Chicago area and also break out the best doctors for specific fields such as “Best Doctors for Women”.
This is a great example of how Chicago area media provides insight into the medical community. If you do a little research you may find a group in your area provides similar reviews.
For more great tips, check out the article on Coping with Cancer. Thanks for the insight Kairol!
We wanted to take a moment today to highlight not only some of the people currently fighting against cancer but also those who have fought and triumphed.
One story we particularly wanted to share was that of Kim Shinner, a rockstar of massive proportions. We first met Kim one year ago in January of 2010 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Her friends organized a GiveForward fundraiser to help cover her costs of treatment. They ended up raising over $10,000 and Kim fought off cancer. She is now officially in remission and is kicking cancer’s ass and taking names!
Kim Shinner
To quote Kim’s friend Stacy “You start a new journey today Kim. A cancer free and healthy one. Keep smiling, keep believing and thank god you will forever keep us laughing.
Cheers to you my graceful little fighter. Cest la Vie… YOU ARE CANCER FREE!!!!!!”
But the story doesn’t end there. Kim is in remission but she also found out her good friend Daniella was diagnosed with Chronic Myleoid Leukemia (CML). Kim and Daniella’s friends immediately stepped up and organized a fundraiser called “Do It For Daniella“.
In just days these guys managed to raise thousands of dollars to help Daniella cover the cost of treatment. Kim’s dedication and GiveForward attitude make her and the other organizers rockstars in our book. We think it is important on World Cancer Day to not only reach out and support each other but to also share stories of hope and victory.
To Kim, Daniella, Stacy and everyone else, thanks for letting us share your story.
