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Gerri Forester
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Coventry, Rhode Island
Breast Cancer Survivor |
These days there is nothing getting in the way of Gerri Forester. Gerri was diagnosed with breast cancer three years ago. Within a week of her diagnosis, Gerri had a successful surgery to remove her tumor. Thanks to her good instincts and effective treatments, Gerri is now healthy. "I've been cancer free for three years — which is wonderful," she says. To finish her breast cancer treatment, Gerri will continue to take medicine for another two years to prevent the cancer from returning. Today at 62 years of age, she has the energy to carry out her daily chores like she always has.
In addition to her cancer therapy, Gerri also takes medicine to treat seizures and tremors that have affected her for years. When left uncontrolled, these conditions make it so she is "not able to do anything." Understandably, she says, "I can't miss my medication. I have to take it." On a fixed income and without adequate insurance coverage, though, affording these medicines has been difficult. On the advice of a friend, Gerri turned to a patient assistance program called Rx for Rhode Island (www.rxforri.org), which is sponsored by a partnership between state and community organizations and pharmaceutical companies. Through the program, Gerri was able to get her medicines at significantly reduced prices from the companies that make them.
With her warm smile and good-hearted soul, Gerri has become quite popular in her building. She's always had a soft spot for the elderly and worked once at a Senior Center in her hometown of Coventry, Rhode Island. She credits her medicines with giving her the freedom to maintain her lifestyle. Her days are filled taking care of her older friends in the high-rise. "I do a lot of volunteer work, take people shopping, or to the doctor's," Gerri says.
When she sits down and thinks of how her health has improved, Gerri often is reminded of her mother's fight with breast cancer years earlier. "They do so much today," Gerri says. When her mother was sick, "there was no radiation, no chemotherapy" and she eventually lost her battle to cancer. New treatments and better diagnostics mean that Gerri and future generations will stand a much better chance in the fight against breast cancer.
For more information, click on the links below:
Disease Overviews
Patient Assistant Programs |
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