Below is a piece written by Nadine Byers, a HealthCorps Navigator serving in the Early Detection Program at CHC. October was National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Nadine provided some feedback on efforts made at CHC to support this important cause. All of us know someone who has been affected by breast cancer. When our close friends and family members are diagnosed with this disease, it often comes as a shocking reminder that we need to embrace life and appreciate…
Below is a guest blog post composed by Nicole Jarjura, Patient Navigator for Early Detection Colorectal Cancer Screening at CHC. As we all well know, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month, and is marked as a time when individuals, businesses, health care organizations (and even the National Football League) come together to promote awareness of the disease in many different ways. Some walk, some fundraise and some wear pink.CHC’s Early Detection Program would like to encourage all Middletown & Clinton…
I found a quote by the poet, Maya Angelou, that I thought suited the beginning of this post. “How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes” As we hit the halfway mark of celebrating National Women’s Health Week, I think it is important to keep in mind all of the “she-roes” that are involved within our lives. Each individual has at least one woman in their life that they want to see maintain a…
On April 17, I was lucky enough to attend a Patient Navigation Conference hosted by the Connecticut Cancer Partnership. Along with Marie Yardis, the EDP coordinator at CHC and Corazon Irizarry, a fellow AmeriCorps member, we spent the morning listening to Rian Rodriguez speak about how patient navigation has evolved over the past twenty two years. For me, the concept of patient navigation is very new but was made easy to understand why there was such a high need for…
On Tuesday morning, I had the pleasure of accompanying Marie Yardis, the program manager of CHC’s Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection program to Hartford to learn more about the current situation behind funding for Early Detection Programs. The CT Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection program provides free mammograms and PAP tests to women who have no health insurance. This particular event was organized by the American Cancer Society to bring different people together, who all have a strong…
Lynda Juda is one of many women who has heard the phrase, “you have cancer”. Most often these words aren’t delivered in the comfort of a home or even with close friend nearby. Usually these words are uttered by medical staff within the walls of a an exam room. It can be a terrifying and lonely feeling. Lynda’s experience was different in that she didn’t feel alone with Rachel DeMarco and the other medical staff she encountered on this journey. She felt their sincere compassion and support from the beginning,…