Black people should not be dying of preventable cancers!
Not knowing what you don’t know is having a devastating impact on the Black community.
Picture this! A real, yet probably typical Black family living in a suburb of DC, our Nation’s Capital…
A beautiful Mom, Grandmother, Friend, Sister, Queen Bee of the Neighborhood… 89 years old with congestive heart failure—her family describes her illness as her having “a bad heart.” She is retired from the DC government and seemingly believes she has “good” health insurance. She has Medicare insurance, no supplemental plan, and was never educated about supporting her Medicare with a supplemental plan. She was recently diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer with metastases throughout her abdomen and lungs. She has a 3- 6 month life expectancy with no treatment and a 6-12 month life expectancy with treatment if her cancer responds favorably. When she experiences side effects from her heart medication, they don’t sit well with her, she is non-compliant. She has never had a colonoscopy.
Her 66-year-old son, a Retired Military Veteran, has excellent military health care, with a master’s degree but very low health literacy and a fear of hospitals based on PTSD experienced from his severe military injuries: He has been experiencing rectal bleeding for over a year and has been too afraid to go the doctor for a diagnosis.
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Her 64-year-old daughter, DC government social worker with seemingly “good” health insurance: Has minimal technical abilities, does not own a smartphone, is very technically uncomfortable, and has very low health literacy. She has been experiencing swelling in her abdomen for months-says she thinks it’s a hernia but has never had a colonoscopy. She too has a master’s degree. She resides in the home with her mom.
Her 43-year-old grandson (son of her son) is currently being treated for stage 2 colon cancer: Medicaid insurance. No health literacy. Refuses to share information about his disease with the family.
Many relatives on both sides of the family have died of cancer. There has been little to no information shared across the family about cancer. Family conversations about health have happened as a result of a family member being diagnosed with metastatic disease, close to death. There has been little to no conversation about cancer awareness and prevention.
Though the mom has had symptoms of fatigue, shortness of breath, feeling faint and light-headed, weight loss, and loss of appetite for months, the family attributed it to her heart disease and never
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