Prior to 2003, cancer was already an unwelcome guest in Bill Still’s home. His mother died of Hodgkin’s disease at age 66, and his father lost a battle with prostate cancer in his late 70s.
So when the 61-year-old Hampton resident and father of four was faced with his own diagnosis of prostate cancer, his mind raced and fear crept in. He couldn’t help but think: Is this it?
Managing Fears
Enter Glenda Williamson, a Sentara CarePlex Hospital Cancer Patient
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| Sentara CarePlex Hospital patient Bill Still benefited from the Patient Navigator program at Sentara. |
Navigator with a friendly face and calm voice of reason during a trying time. Williamson and the other
Sentara Cancer Patient Navigators are registered nurses who are certified and trained in oncology. They provide services to patients receiving care through the
Sentara Cancer Network, as well as support and guide cancer patients who often feel overwhelmed following a cancer diagnosis.
“I’m the kind of person who wants to know the facts up front,” said Still. “It makes it less scary that way. The Patient Navigator empowered me with information and helped me with that fear factor.”
“Once a patient hears the word 'cancer,' they hear nothing else,” explained Glenda Williamson, RN, OCN, who has worked as a Sentara employee for 16 years, and as a Patient Navigator at
Sentara CarePlex Hospital for the last three years.
Navigating the Treatment Process “The Patient Navigator role was developed primarily to assist cancer patients in navigating the medical system,” Williamson noted. “We work with patients from the time of diagnosis through recovery, explaining to them what to expect and where to go.”
Williamson is available to help patients complete necessary paperwork for many community and hospital-based resources and provide information about the disease process and treatment options. Sometimes she serves as a liaison between the patient and the physician’s office. She helps with appointment scheduling issues and can assist patients in interpreting their bills and guiding them to the proper resources to further address their billing needs.
A Listening Ear
Some patients who work with Williamson quickly realize they can add a few more adjectives to her job title: attentive listener, advocate, and in Still’s case, friend.
“Bill was going through some difficult times with the prostate cancer and he would come in and sit with me and talk and I think it helped to ease his fears,“ said Williamson. “I have a great deal of empathy for my patients. Unless you’ve experienced it, I don’t think anyone realizes what cancer patients go through from the time they are diagnosed to the time they start that treatment plan.”
The Good Fight
Still’s prostate cancer was treated effectively at Sentara CarePlex Hospital with
brachytherapy - also known as r
adioactive seed implant therapy - a form of radiotherapy where a radioactive source is placed inside or next to the area requiring treatment. He had 102 seeds, each about the size of a grain of rice, implanted in his body.
Still has remained prostate cancer free and September 2008 marked five years since his diagnosis.
In 2007, however, Still would have need for a patient navigator again – he was diagnosed with rectal cancer and underwent radiation, chemotherapy and surgery to treat it.
Through it all, Still and his wife, Joyce, are extremely grateful for their relationship with a patient navigator.
“She guided us through the whole process. It helped just knowing there was a person I could talk to who knew more than I did,” said Still.
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| Patient Navigator Glenda Williamson with cancer patient Bill Still at Sentara Sentara CarePlex Hospital. |
Getting Past Cancer
“I help remove those barriers that would prevent a person from moving forward,” said Williamson. “But emotionally, each patient needs to make a decision on how the diagnosis will affect his or her lifestyle.”
It appears Bill Still has made his decision.
He retired after 42 years as an educator with Hampton Public Schools and works part time as a mentor for the Career Switcher Program at Old Dominion University. He and his wife enjoy traveling and often attend theater in New York City.
Still also attends monthly prostate
cancer support group meetings to offer words of encouragement to others diagnosed with the disease.
“I tell men not to get worked up about prostate cancer. You need to get that exam regularly and, if you have it, get going on treatment because you can beat it like I did.”
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