MDNews - Central New York

As the program's first breast health nurse navigator, Tindall draws on her experience not only as an oncology nurse, but also as the daughter of a patient with breast cancer. When her mother went through the diagnostic process, Tindall says, one of their biggest stressors was all the time they spent in limbo — waiting for appointments to be scheduled, waiting for test results and waiting for answers. "It was all so frustrating. Even if it's a simple question, waiting for an answer can cause so much anxiety and fear," Tindall says. "Getting people the information they need can be reassuring." Tindall's first goal, therefore, is to accel- erate the process that leads to diagnosis and treatment. She's often the first person a new patient sees at the Falk Breast Health Center, and by then she will have spoken with the surgeon about preliminary plans for consultation and testing and begun putting those pieces in place. "The patient won't come in for her first visit and be told, 'We'll call you with an appointment,'" Tindall says. "We schedule appointments ahead of time so she's not waiting for days and weeks when she knows something is wrong." Tindall and Sandra Rookey, another nu r s e n av i gat or for Brea s t Hea lt h Partners, schedule patient testing and specia list appointments a nd ha nd le insurance approvals as well. " Whether a patient has a lready had a biopsy and a diagnosis when she comes to the Center, or whether we're sending her for a biopsy and then follow-through, she doesn't have to make phone calls for herself once she's here," Dr. Congelli says. During a nd a f ter treatment, patients ca n rely on nurse navigators to connect them to a variety of professiona l support ser vices on and off the hospita l campus. Crouse offers psychologica l counseling and access to wigs and post mastectomy prosthetics; Centra l New York Surgica l Physicia ns of fers genetic testing a nd counseling; and Hematolog y-Oncolog y Associates of CN Y, located off ca mpus, offers nutritiona l ser vices. The nurse navigators can also direct patients to community-based resources l i ke Ca ncer Con nec t s, wh ich of fers informational and emotional support for cancer patients throughout Central New York. They have also partnered with local nonprofits like the YMCA to provide child care and transportation to the hospital so patients can get to their appointments. Through these partnerships, as well as grants and other sources of financia l aid, the Falk Breast Health Center helps patients overcome obstacles involved with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. "We're trying to pull those resources together so our patients can take advan- tage of them," Tindall says. "Women are busy. They 're mothers, sisters, wives, bosses and employees. Just taking time out of the week to come here can involve a lot of barriers." NO TYPICAL BREAST PATIENT Women aren't the only patients the Falk Breast Health Center serves. While breast cancer affects one in eight women in the United States, men account for 2,670 new diagnoses every year. There is no typical patient, and the center's individualized approach to care reflects that fact. " Whether patients are dealing with a benign condition or cancer, whether t hey 're young or elderly or whet her they're female or male, we have a high- level, integrated, coordinated system to bring patients through every step of care, from testing through treatment," Dr. Sartori says. For more information about the breast care services offered at the Dr. Hadley J. Falk Breast Health Center at Crouse Hospital, visit crouse.org/breasthealth. n " Once patients are here, we guide them through the system. They don't have to think about where to go or who to contact." — TAMMY CONGELLI, MD, GENERAL SURGEON AND BREAST SURGERY SPECIALIST AT CENTRAL NEW YORK SURGICAL PHYSICIANS M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S C E N T R A L N E W Y O R K ■ 2 019 0 9

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