battling breast cancer you don't have to
do it alone there are a series of free
seminars coming up at Baptist Health
System to provide answers and resources
for young women going through treatments
and/or recovery here to tell us more
about it as Andrea case
Kassem pardon me oncology nurse
navigator with Baptist Health System
good afternoon Mike nurse navigator and
breast cancer what yeah so great
question so I work as a breast navigator
and what that means is that I work with
women who have been diagnosed with
breast cancer from the time of diagnosis
all the way through survivorship there's
really there to empower women with
education so that they can go through
their treatment as active participants
in their treatment journey because I can
imagine that diagnosis may feel like you
know all of a sudden a boulder has just
landed on you and you're all alone yes
they often feel like they're drowning is
what I say and so sometimes navigators
were kind of like life preservers were
there to educate advocate and
communicate for patients and their
families so that they can get their you
know feet up under them and that they
can go through their journey a lot
easier and this happens the first phone
call can happen almost immediately it
does it definitely happens within the
first 24 hours that a woman hears from
her doctor that she does have a
diagnosis tried to do it a little
earlier if we can and they come in and
they meet with me and we spend as much
time as they need on that day and as
many days as they need throughout their
journey well one of the ladies who
benefited from this with the Fiona right
now you know as Molly elverson joins us
we are so thrilled for you being in a
survivor tell us a little bit about your
story because you know breast cancer is
something your family some of your
family members yes my great-grandmother
and my mother both passed away from
breast cancer and so it's something
that's always kind of been in the back
of my mind but I didn't expect to get it
at 29 I thought I had more time and I
had always been very didn't about our
diligence I'm getting you know checks
and everything in self checks but yeah
so it was a month after I got married
and I was sitting at work and I felt
some pain in my chest and got an
appointment with my OBGYN and about
three hours after I got my diagnosis I
got a call from Andrea so
really I only had about three hours of
panic because I was concerned about what
am I gonna do how am I gonna pay for
this right how am I gonna find the right
doctors when you're kind of in that and
you know state of you know emotional
address and worry I mean it's hard it's
you know it really is just kind of hard
to focus it was little details so you
know when you were working with you know
Andrea as a nurse navigator tell us a
little bit about what that was like
basically she was my cancer concierge I
think she she introduced me to all of
the best doctors in San Antonio she
introduced me to other women who have
breast cancer so it because at the
beginning it felt very isolating I mean
I know and I knew in my age range had
breast cancer and so yeah I was able to
meet other people know I'm not alone and
also just having someone there that I
can talk to
I mean she's not only been you know
super supportive throughout my journey
but also supportive of me as a person
and helping me through all of this and
the emotional and mental aspects we are
so glad Andrea came into your life and a
voice so happy for you as well Mike if
you want to find out more about this the
first in the series of seminars is
coming up at the end of the month and
the interesting topic for the first
seminar yes ready for it we're gonna
talk about sex and breast cancer often
people don't think that those two words
go together but they absolutely do
especially for younger women will any
woman in general we need to be talking
about that but because of breast cancer
and breast cancer treatment we've got
side effects that impact a woman's
sexuality and sexual function and so
getting young women together to talk
about how we can make that better for
them is what we're gonna do then the
subsequent seminars covered everything
else and in the first free survivorship
series for young women is coming up on
the 26th at North Central Baptist
Hospital from 6 to 7:30 you can RSVP by
calling two one zero seven three zero
nine six one zero there are more
upcoming seminars you can find out more
information on each by going online to
Baptist Health Systems dot-com