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One client's personal story
BY GINA HAMILTON • CONTRIBUTING WRITER
 | | Alleghany Highlands Free Clinic director and Bath County resident Luanne Osborne keeps busy raising money, coordinating staff and volunteers, answering the phone, washing dishes or pretty much anything else necessary to support the medical staff and volunteers in providing health care to needy patients. The clinic has served more than 2000 patients since 1998. |
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MILLBORO - I am a client of the Alleghany Highlands Free Clinic, one among the more than 2,000 active patients the facility has served since opening in 1998. And I credit the caring staff with arranging for the medical care that has restored my health.
After relocating from New Hampshire to my new little corner of the world here in late fall of 2006, I was not prepared for a diagnosis of cancer early in 2007. Is anyone, ever? My plan was to look for full-time work again, enjoy nearby family members, and settle into this friendly little town. Instead, after a long career in journalism that had provided me with full medical insurance, I was without a full-time job, without insurance, and without the ability to breathe adequately.
It was almost exactly one year ago that I drove myself to the emergency room at Alleghany Regional Hospital in Low Moor, barely breathing, barely able to walk into the hospital. After a CT scan, the ER doctor's face was grave. "The radiologist believes you have lung cancer," he said quietly.
No tears. But with an internal shockwave that seemed to reach down to my knees, I explained my lack of medical insurance. That's when I learned about the Free Clinic, which was then located in the Emmett Medical Clinic behind the hospital. Before I could even fill out my applica- tion there, I was referred to an oncologist at Blue Ridge Cancer Care, a Roanoke facility that maintains a clinic at the hospital, no questions asked. Within days, I managed to fill out my application for service through the clinic and had an appointment with the physician assistant, Brent May, who works under Dr. Aubrey Hall. I could not have asked for greater kindness in the way I was treated by May and the clinic staff. Further medical tests and a lung biopsy were scheduled immediately, followed by daily radiation treatments during the week at the Center for Cancer Care in Lewisburg, W.Va. I was told the Free Clinic would pick up the tab for everything until my application for Medicaid was - hopefully - approved. With unflagging efficiency, the clinic staff made all arrangements for my treatment at both oncology centers and for any other specialists or tests I needed. With the expensive radiation treatments, more than $30,000 for the first round, I was approved for Medicaid after several months (thanks to the assistance I received from the Bath County Department of Social Services), which took that heavy burden off the clinic budget.
Much to the surprise of my doctors, and buoyed by the loving support of my family and friends near and far, I started getting well. I am also blessed with a boundless optimism that helped keep my "not down yet" attitude afloat. Last June, after re-evaluating my medical case history, the doctors determined I did not have lung cancer, but a recurrence of the breast cancer I overcame 14 years ago. And while my cancer-free status had ended, my options for the future had increased dramatically.
The Free Clinic continues to support my road to wellness, this time by arranging for me to receive the expensive medication I need to take through the drug manufacturer's assistance program.
In talking to clinic executive director Luanne Osborne on Tuesday, she said the facility provides basic medical care for those without insurance in Bath and Alleghany counties, "and we do a lot with chronic disease management." Clients can also receive flu shots and a limited number of pneumonia vaccines are given. With serious illnesses, such as mine, the clinic refers patients to other specialists.
The words "thank you" pale in comparison to the gratitude I feel every day for getting my life back.
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