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Reference in this web site to any specific commercial products, process, service, manufacturer, or company does not constitute its endorsement or recommendation by the North Dakota Department of Health, CDC, HHS, or the U.S. Government, nor are these agencies responsible for the contents of any "off-site" web pages referenced from this server. |
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Testimonials
Marleen Stammen
Palermo, N.D. |
No Insurance? Women’s Way
May Provide a Way to Pay.
When Marleen Stammen’s husband died, not only had she
lost her spouse of nearly 35 years, she also lost her
insurance. This made the prospect of maintaining her
yearly medical check-ups financially difficult,
difficult until Marleen learned about the Women’s
Way program.
Marleen used the Women’s Way program to get
checked every year for three years. The fourth year,
Marleen received her reminder card in the mail but
didn’t immediately make the call to make the
appointment. A local Women’s Way coordinator
followed up the reminder card and Marleen made it to her
mammogram. It was that year that Marleen’s mammogram
detected a “shadow” that was eventually diagnosed as
breast cancer. Marleen was lucky because her cancer was
detected early. Early detection is the key to survival
rates; Marleen is a cancer survivor. “My doctor gave me
a 97 percent chance that I was cured so I guess I can’t
get much better than that,” Marleen said.
Today, Marleen is feeling well and doing the things she
has always wanted to do. “Now the grass is greener and the
sky is bluer and I’m not going to wait to do the things I
want to do. I’m so thankful for Women’s Way because
I am here and I am appreciating every day I have.” |
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Elaine Keepseagle
Fort Yates, N.D. |
Because Other People Depend on Us.
Elaine Keepseagle, an elder with the Standing Rock Sioux
nation, tells women that if they are afraid or embarrassed
to get regular mammograms or Pap tests, she will go with
them. “You have to feel good inside; you have to be healthy
to help others. If you are scared or don’t understand or if
you need someone to go with you, I will go,” Elaine said.
Elaine is a volunteer and an enrollee with the Women’s
Way program. She first enrolled in the Women’s Way
program in 1997. She understands why some women don’t seek
regular screenings because she used to be one. “A long time
ago, I used to be ashamed to come in because the doctors
were male. I also heard that mammograms hurt. It took me a
while to know that it didn’t matter if the doctor was a man
or a woman because they are professionals and they are there
to help us,” Elaine said. She also commented that the
mammograms didn’t hurt bad like she had heard.
Elaine urges women to use the Women’s Way program to
help pay for yearly screenings. “Women’s Way is a
wonderful program. We have caring people who help us understand.
They walk us through the screenings. Get your yearly screenings
because your health depends on it. We have children and
grandchildren who depend on us and we can’t help them if we’re
not healthy,” Elaine said. |
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Gerry Haas
Elgin, N.D.
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Make Time to Get Checked.
Gerry Haas and her husband raised three children on a
family farm outside of Elgin, N.D., and look forward to
cherishing grandchildren there. Gerry has ridden the
financial and emotional rollercoaster that often comes with
working your own farm. Working part-time off the farm and
caring for the farm and the family left Gerry with very
little time to take care of herself. She skipped getting
regular health screenings. “I was too busy with the farm and
the kids to even think about myself,” Gerry said. “ Besides,
we had big medical bills already from the premature birth of
our twin boys and I couldn’t afford to get checked.”
For 17 years, Gerry missed her yearly Pap tests and pelvic
exams. Finally in April of 1999, a physician’s assistant
told her about the Women’s Way program and Gerry
enrolled and got screened. Gerry’s Pap results showed a
problem. Gerry went to Bismarck for a biopsy, and stage-four
cervical cancer was diagnosed. The doctors performed a
hysterectomy and Gerry’s health prediction was good. "I
thank God for Women’s Way, and for my faith in the
Lord," said Gerry. "They caught it in time."
Today, Gerry works two part-time jobs and helps her husband
with the farm. She also makes sure to re-enroll in Women’s
Way every year so she can get checked. Although working the
family farm can be difficult, Gerry wouldn’t change a thing.
“With the farming sector the way it is, it isn’t easy, but what
we do and produce is important and my husband’s heart is here.
Plus, a farm is the best place to raise kids, and I don’t mean
to brag but, I have good kids. I thank God that I was here to
help raise them. I think our reward for the hard work is for us
to be a happy grandma and grandpa,” Gerry said. |
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Marsha Blueshield
Fort Totten, N.D. |
Pride for Her People Prompts Nurse to
Spread Screening Awareness
If you are female and you are near you will probably have
Marsha Blueshield bending your ear. Marsha, a nurse for 25
years with the Spirit Lake Tribe, knows how important breast
and cervical cancer screenings are. She takes every
opportunity to talk about them. “I’ve had several members of
my family who have died from breast and cervical cancer. I
have four sisters and my mom and I never let up on them to
get in and get checked,” Marsha said. “They get a little
tired of me, but I never let up. I go for it!”
As a mother of three, a grandmother of four, and an elder
with the Spirit Lake Sioux Nation, Marsha knows that taking
care of herself is important to those around her. Part of
taking care of herself is making sure she gets regular
mammograms and Pap tests. As a traveling nurse for the
Spirit Lake Tribe Health Tracks program, Marsha has the
opportunity to meet and encourage women to take time for
regular breast and cervical cancer screenings. “A lot of
people think we get all of our health care and dental paid
for, but it isn’t true. I have insurance, but if I need to
go to any other clinic than Fort Totten, then I have to pay
for it myself,” Marsha said. “I think Women’s Way
is wonderful. I’ve seen what Women’s Way can do.
I’ve seen what misery cancer can cause, and I want everyone
to get screened,” Marsha said.
Marsha understands that some Native women don’t get screened
because they don’t like to see male doctors. Marsha believes so
strongly in regular mammograms and Pap tests, she recently told
a friend that she needed to get screened despite her
embarrassment. “The good cells could be being gobbled up by the
cancer cells and you are saying you’re too embarrassed? I asked
her, ‘Are you going to deprive your children and grandchildren
of your love because you are too embarrassed?” Marsha said. Her
friend went in for her screenings. |
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