Myeloma patient leverages 35 years in healthcare to coach others
Kirk
State: New York
Congressional District: NY10
Diseases
Cancer
Issues and Challenges
Kirk has encountered: Access to Expert Providers, Access to Medicine, Insurance Issues, Medicare / Medicaid Issues
My Story
I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma cancer in April 2022. It came out of nowhere. Up until retirement in April 2024, I was a cancer patient working full time, a productive member of society and taking care of a fully disabled husband. Now, having retired, I am all of the above except for working full time. I have replaced full time employment with part-time coaching of physician leaders as well as patients with Multiple Myeloma seeking support.
I have been lucky so far with my cancer. Having worked in healthcare for thirty five years at a premier academic medical center in New York, I have had access to excellent specialists and I have received great care. And thanks to wonderful commercial insurance while working – and now Medicare coverage upon retirement – I have been able to receive all the treatments that my oncologist has prescribed. But access to the all FDA approved medications is still a challenge for many patients who don’t have excellent insurance. And access to great care is hindered for those who don’t live near academic medical centers (which generally have robust Cancer Centers.)
My husband, who broke his neck from a bicycle accident in 2020, just retired at age 77. A family practice physician, he took care of thousands of patients in his lifetime and before his injury. He was able to save many a patient with HIV/AIDs due to the treatments that came to market beginning in the 1990s. And now, he is thrilled that HIV/AIDs is a chronic – and not a terminal – illness, again do to access to great treatments.
Together we have both contributed – and still contribute – to society. And I keep him going strong at home and out of a skilled nursing facility, saving our healthcare system likely hundreds of thousands of dollars.
So ensuring patients with cancer have both access to great healthcare providers as well as access to cutting edge treatments is critical to keep us alive, along with the families we support.
My Motivation and Inspiration
To serve others who may be struggling and help them find calm in their lives. As a patient living with cancer, a care giver and someone who worked in healthcare for more than 35 years, I am devoted to help others navigate their journeys as best they can.
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