Samantha Russell breathes pure oxygen in a pressurized hyperbaric chamber to heal her wounds at MountainView Wound Care & Hyperbaric Center, Wednesday, April 21, 2021.
Monday, April 26, 2021 | 2 a.m.
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Samantha Russell, 32, has been diagnosed with cancer three times in the past five years. But last year’s diagnosis at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic was especially frightening.
“Everything was shutting down, and I received the news that there wasn’t much we could do, and the treatment wasn’t working. It was the most scared I have ever been in my life,” she said.
Doctors first detected precancerous cells on Russell’s cervix when she was 26. By 2018, she had left her job, because juggling work with her cancer treatments was too demanding.
Prior to her third cancer diagnosis in March 2020, Russell had a hysterectomy, chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapy. She was told all options at treating her aggressive cervical cancer had been exhausted.
But she wasn’t ready to surrender to cancer, a disease that roughly 17,000 people are diagnosed with in Nevada each year.
She traveled to Los Angeles for a second opinion and underwent two surgeries.
Because of the pandemic, she was not allowed any visitors during the two weeks she was in the hospital. The isolation and fear of COVID-19 took a severe toll on her and her husband’s mental health, she said.
“My husband and I spent the whole year protecting each other at all costs. We’ve been through so much and didn’t want to risk everything,” she said.
Cancer patients and survivors are among those most at risk for the worst outcomes of COVID.
Cancer Action Network, an advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, has been conducting surveys of cancer patients and survivors to identify barriers and challenges to inform policy-making.
The latest survey, which asks patients and survivors if they have been vaccinated, was sent out recently.
While Cancer Action Network doesn’t have state-specific data, more than 2,000 people nationwide have completed the survey, said Kimberly Rogers, the group’s grassroots manager in Nevada.
Of those who responded, 26% had health care services related to their cancer delayed or canceled during the pandemic.
Nearly half of those surveyed cited office or facility closures as the reason for the delay or cancellation, while 31% said they delayed or canceled care over concerns about exposure to the coronavirus.
The National Cancer Institute reported last month that cancer screening decreased at the beginning of the pandemic, which could mean early cancer might not have been detected in some people. The impact of this might not be known for years, but some people may be saved from the occasional “overdiagnosis,” which leads to a series of unnecessary testing that can actually harm patients, the National Cancer Institute reported.
The pandemic led to new ways of screening for cancer, like video conferences and self-collected stool sample tests, but there is no at-home screening for cervical cancer approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the institute reported.
Over half of respondents said maintaining health insurance was their greatest concern. The second biggest concern was the cost of insurance.
“I’m so lucky I’m married to someone who has a job with insurance, but what if I wasn’t? I would still deserve the medical care I received,” Russell said.
Survey data was shared with the Nevada Cancer Coalition, cancer screening and tobacco prevention programs, Medicaid officials, lawmakers, lobbyists and advocates. “We share survivor views with partners all across the state,” Rogers said.
About two-thirds of Nevada lawmakers have agreed to meetings to listen to the results of the survey, said Jon Castagnino, state lead ambassador for the Cancer Action Network.
“They’re extremely receptive. It doesn’t matter which side of the aisle they’re on, they want to do work for the cancer community,” Castagnino said.
Cancer Action Network wants greater access to at-home cancer care, including chemotherapy, more equity in drug clinical trials and more funding for research.
“We’re seeing a pretty big disparity as far as minority communities getting access to clinical trials,” Castagnino said.
The group’s push for more research funding has been ongoing, he said. “Nevada has historically not done very much in the area of cancer research,” Castagnino said.
