Latest / Healthier Together: Larimer County's Public Health Podcast / The White Ribbon Project

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The White Ribbon Project · Healthier Together: Larimer County's Public Health Podcast

0:03
Welcome to Healthier Together, Larimer County's
0:06
public health podcast, where we come together
0:07
for healthier lives, connected communities, and
0:09
real conversations. From your local public health
0:12
team, I'm your host, Tom. And I'm Joanna. This
0:14
is the first full length episode of our new podcast,
0:17
Healthier Together, where we'll dive deeper into
0:20
public health topics and peek behind the scenes
0:22
of the day -to -day work at the Larimer County
0:24
Health Department. Our first guest is here to
0:27
share some public health tips for caregivers
0:29
in outbreaks and other inconveniences. Abby,
0:32
thanks so much for joining us. Oh, thank you
0:34
all for having me. Could you start by telling
0:37
us who you are and what you do at the health
0:39
department? Absolutely. So as you said, my name
0:42
is Abby and I am a communicable disease epidemiologist
0:45
here at the county. And what I do is kind of
0:49
three main things. So first, our team is responsible
0:52
for case investigation. So. Anytime a reportable
0:56
case comes through to us, we call up the case
0:58
and talk to them, learn about different exposures
1:01
they had, make sure they're on the right treatment,
1:03
and help prevent others from getting sick. Another
1:05
thing we do is outbreak investigations, so working
1:08
with our schools and our long -term care facilities
1:10
to respond to outbreaks and help mitigate them.
1:13
And then the third thing I do is data analysis.
1:16
So monitoring trends of disease in our county
1:18
and identifying places where we could do some
1:21
interventions. So right now, we seem to be in
1:23
the throes of flu and cold season. What guidelines
1:26
would you give to caregivers who are trying to
1:28
decide if their child needs to stay home or is
1:30
healthy enough to go to a school or daycare?
1:32
Yeah, great question. So here in Colorado, we
1:35
actually have a fantastic resource that has been
1:38
put out by our state health department. It's
1:40
called the How Sick is Too Sick guidelines, and
1:42
it's what we anchor to here in our county, and
1:45
it's what our schools use as well to decide if
1:47
your kid is too sick to go to school. Generally,
1:50
if your kid doesn't feel well enough to participate
1:52
in class or they're going to be using too much
1:55
of the teacher's time, we recommend them staying
1:57
home. If they are having flu -like symptoms,
2:00
though, our recommendation is as long as they
2:03
have been fever -free for 24 hours without the
2:06
use of fever -reducing medication, and their
2:08
symptoms are improving, they're good to go back
2:10
to class. We're really trying to balance keeping
2:13
kids healthy enough where they can participate
2:16
in class, not getting others sick, but also not
2:18
staying out of school for so long that they're
2:20
falling behind. Gotcha. And you kind of already
2:23
answered this other question. So for caregivers
2:25
that currently have a sick child, would you mind
2:27
repeating when they can actually then go back
2:29
into the classroom? Yes. So if the kid has a
2:31
fever, they should not be in school. So what
2:33
we're looking for is once they have not had their
2:36
fever for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing
2:40
medication. So if they're taking Tylenol, that
2:42
doesn't count. And their symptoms should be improving.
2:45
So if they have a cough, is their cough getting
2:47
better? And if so, they can go back. Gotcha.
2:50
So what are some warning signs that the child
2:52
might need more immediate medical attention?
2:54
Yes. So some symptoms to watch for are if your
2:57
kid is having trouble breathing, if they have
3:00
persistent pain or pressure in their chest, if
3:02
they're acting really confused, if they're having
3:05
trouble waking up or staying awake, if you're
3:07
noticing kind of changes in their skin or nail
3:10
bed color, if they're really pale, gray, blue,
3:12
or if you're seeing fevers in children under
3:14
three months. When in doubt, though, we always
3:17
recommend calling their pediatrician and going
3:19
over the symptoms with them. Colorado also has
3:23
a 24 -7 pediatric nurse hotline that's free.
3:27
That's a really great resource as well if you're
3:29
in doubt. I think most of us are probably familiar
3:31
with movies like Ferris Bueller's Day Off. And
3:33
as a former kid myself, I know that I was often
3:35
less than truthful with some of my cold and flu
3:38
symptoms. So what might be some signs that a
3:40
kid might be faking an illness? Oh, yeah, I definitely
3:43
would always happen to get sick right before
3:45
I had a big exam. So I definitely get it. I think
3:49
one thing my parents use was, am I still sick
3:52
when I'm doing something fun? You know, if I'm
3:55
If your kid is playing video games and they seem
3:57
like they're not sick anymore, maybe they're
3:59
just faking it. Or if your kid is willingly resting,
4:02
maybe this is real. Is this abnormal for your
4:05
child? If you have a kid that never gets sick
4:07
and is suddenly talking about symptoms, maybe
4:10
that's a little more serious than a kid who is
4:12
constantly, you know. bringing up on Friday that
4:15
he has symptoms. But on the other hand, you know,
4:19
if your kid is faking it a lot, maybe there's
4:21
something about school that's making them want
4:24
to stay home. So maybe that's a conversation
4:26
you could have with them. That's great. So in
4:29
terms of what parents can do that and keep the
4:31
kids healthy this time of year, especially around
4:33
other kids who might be sick in the classroom,
4:35
what would you recommend? Yeah. So one great
4:38
tool, of course, is a lot of our seasonal vaccines
4:41
are available for kids. So speaking with their
4:43
pediatrician about their eligibility for the
4:46
COVID and flu vaccine, and then just general
4:49
respiratory etiquette is great to remind them
4:51
about. So washing their hands when they're coming
4:54
back from school, before eating, after going
4:57
to the bathroom, after sneezing or coughing.
5:00
And it's really good with these younger kids
5:01
to watch them do it. 20 seconds can feel like
5:05
a really long time. And so it's great to make
5:07
sure your little kid's getting there. You know
5:10
reminding them of things that we might take for
5:12
granted about you know coughing into your elbows
5:14
sneezing into your elbow Not sharing water bottles
5:16
with your friends that can go a long way And
5:19
then if possible encouraging outdoor play and
5:22
activities with their friends instead of staying
5:24
inside that way they're around the fresh air
5:26
And there's less chance of them getting sick
5:28
right Abby. Thank you so much for joining us.
5:31
We really appreciate it alright. Thanks for having
5:33
me Next on What's Public Health Got to Do With
5:36
It, we'll dive into a topic that you might not
5:39
think of when you think about the work that the
5:41
Health Department does. Today we're here with
5:43
Jo Buckley, our Community Health Improvement
5:46
Plan Coordinator. Jo, thanks for joining us.
5:49
Yes, it's great to be here. Thanks for having
5:50
me. Can you tell us what you do at the Health
5:53
Department and what you're here to talk about
5:55
today? Well, my job is actually part of our health
5:59
strategy team. And so I'm overseeing this plan
6:02
that runs for five years to improve community
6:05
health across our county. Our plan is really
6:08
focused on social connection and social support.
6:10
So that falls in things like mental health, but
6:13
also just having places where people can get
6:16
together with their community, whether that's
6:18
virtual or in person. And why is social connection
6:21
important to public health? That's a great question.
6:24
So years ago, There was a big study about just
6:27
how isolated and lonely so many people across
6:30
our whole country are. And that started to show
6:33
the connections that loneliness and isolation
6:35
has on other social determinants of health. So
6:37
for example, loneliness can be a key indicator
6:40
for things like chronic disease, but also just
6:43
shorter lifespans. And so if we support the things
6:47
that keep us from being lonely, so things that
6:49
help us feel connected, have a sense of belonging.
6:52
and feel a part of our community, then we're
6:55
also able to address some of those other top
6:58
diseases that could affect our county. The other
7:01
thing here is it's a great way to really key
7:04
in on different social determinants of health.
7:08
So looking with a different lens of those key
7:11
indicators that affect people's lives, like housing,
7:14
childcare, transportation, even things like air
7:18
pollution. If you look at them with the lens
7:21
of social connection, then you can kind of build
7:23
in a system that supports health while addressing
7:27
the different ways that people across our county
7:29
might be affected differently. How does volunteering
7:32
impact social connection? Why is volunteering
7:36
important? Yeah, so thanks to help of our communications
7:39
department, we did this big volunteerism campaign
7:42
this year because Volunteering is one of the
7:46
best ways that people can start to feel a sense
7:49
of social connection if they are sensing that
7:51
piece of loneliness or even just another life
7:54
transition, like moving to a new place or starting
7:56
retirement. And actually, it's a great way to
8:01
capture folks for one, both their individual
8:05
skill sets and how they're a unique member of
8:07
our community, but two, as a way to bring people
8:11
together across differences. And so, We really
8:14
have supported volunteerism because, for example,
8:18
our county in particular has had more growth
8:22
for people 65 and older in the last 10 years
8:26
than any other age group. And so in supporting
8:29
these older adults and people who might be in
8:31
retirement, volunteerism was a way to not only
8:35
be of service and still find community value
8:39
in those members. but also to support these organizations
8:42
that are really critical to running our county.
8:45
You've shared with me in the past that about
8:48
a third of the nonprofit workforce is made up
8:50
of volunteers. Yes, it's this huge amount. And
8:54
while I highlighted older adults, it's really
8:56
people fitting it in. on weekends, even after
8:59
work, trading some work hours or volunteering
9:03
at their kid's school. So it could be any one
9:05
of these organizations, but people are really
9:08
finding ways to creatively help their community.
9:10
And that is just like you mentioned, just this
9:13
huge piece of really what sustains basic needs
9:16
on a day to day in Larimer County. How has volunteering
9:19
impacted you personally? Well, I have been so
9:23
grateful to grow up here. And when I was in high
9:26
school, was one of those first times that I really
9:29
volunteered and came around in need. So it was
9:32
right around that time of the big flood through
9:34
the canyon and especially in Lyons. And we all
9:38
started coming together to see what we could
9:40
do, even as students. So there's really no age
9:43
limit to start with volunteering. And that just
9:46
gave me a lens that I could do something beyond
9:49
my day -to -day routine and make great friends
9:51
along the way. I was able to do a live -in volunteer
9:55
year in my 20s and then continue to do it just
9:58
outside of work here. That one is just this great
10:03
sense of gratitude for my community because I
10:06
get to see all these other pieces behind the
10:10
scenes or the great work that people do in our
10:12
community that I wouldn't otherwise come across
10:14
in my day -to -day. But through volunteering,
10:16
I feel really inspired and hopeful about all
10:19
the great things I see. But then too, it's also
10:21
just been a great connector for me personally
10:24
of finding new job positions or finding other
10:28
connections in community because you're opening
10:31
yourself up to networks that you might not otherwise
10:34
have. If people are wanting to start volunteering
10:37
in the new year or find other means of social
10:40
connection, where would you recommend they start?
10:43
Well, there's no wrong time to start and there's
10:46
no wrong size of volunteering to start with.
10:50
So, for example, maybe you just look for one
10:53
event a year and you're going to get really excited
10:56
and commit to doing that day. That's a wonderful
10:58
place to start. In our county, there's a few
11:01
different days that come to mind for me. And
11:03
so, for example, there's walk for hope or there's
11:06
the Alzheimer's bike ride and all of these things
11:09
that might touch you personally or be something
11:11
you're curious about. If you are ready to take
11:14
on something that's a little more. consecutive,
11:17
like a Saturday morning opportunity or something
11:21
that happens after work, I would try to look
11:24
into something that you're already interested
11:26
in and find organizations that do that. So if
11:28
you're great with animals, I would look into
11:31
that. Or maybe you want to. start trail restoration.
11:34
The great thing about a community our size is
11:37
there are people doing it. And just by getting
11:40
involved with those people and really setting
11:43
yourself up for success by not necessarily saying
11:45
that you have to go do it all or save the world,
11:48
you might find a little more consistency and
11:52
be able to celebrate yourself. that you are out
11:55
there doing it. So lastly, I would say if you
11:58
are having trouble finding any organizations
12:00
to work with, our office recommends Volunteer
12:03
Match, which is run as part of Idealist now as
12:06
just a way to search through different organizations
12:08
and start to get an idea of what might be out
12:10
there. And you can visit Larimer .gov slash volunteerism
12:14
to find Volunteer Match and learn more about
12:16
the benefits of volunteering. Thanks so much,
12:19
Joe. Yes, thanks so much. Next up we have our
12:23
community questions segment and with us is Alyssa
12:25
Bermejo from the Vital Records. Alyssa, thank
12:27
you for joining us. Would you mind introducing
12:29
yourself to our listeners and tell them what
12:31
it is that you do for the county? Yes, of course.
12:33
My name is Alyssa Bermejo and I work at the Vital
12:38
Records office so we do issuance of Colorado
12:41
birth and death certificates. So I know when
12:44
I had my now three -year -old the process of
12:47
getting his birth certificate was confusing.
12:52
The hospital told us we would receive it in the
12:54
mail six to eight weeks later and it never came.
12:59
So we ended up I believe at the social security
13:01
office to figure that out. What should that process
13:05
look like? I'm so glad you asked and honestly
13:08
it's a really easy process. So basically when
13:13
most births are at the hospital and they have
13:16
a birth registrar and that person registers the
13:20
birth into the state database. So all the paperwork
13:22
that families are filling out are to name your
13:27
child and have that birth registered. The part
13:30
that gets confusing is that the hospitals do
13:35
not issue the birth certificates, they don't
13:37
order them, they don't come automatically to
13:40
the family. So the parent or parents have to
13:43
submit a separate application to a vital records
13:46
office. Gotcha. So in that case, where should
13:49
parents then start? So you can either go in person
13:53
and apply for the birth certificate at a vital
13:56
records office and the process is done same day,
13:59
usually takes 15 -20 minutes and you get the
14:01
birth certificate during your appointment. If
14:04
going in person is not something that is, if
14:08
that's not something that they would prefer to
14:10
do or can't do, then they can submit a request
14:14
by mail or they can order through a secure third
14:18
party vendor called vitalcheck .com. And then
14:21
the requirements for parents are to provide a
14:24
copy of their valid photo ID. And then the cost
14:27
is going to be $25 for one birth certificate.
14:31
Additionals are $20. So that's pretty much the
14:35
process. If your baby was born at home, what
14:40
does the process look like then? If it's a home
14:43
birth and there's a registered nurse midwife
14:46
then that nurse midwife will do the registration
14:49
of the birth just as if the hospital was doing
14:52
it. I know that this has come up a few times
14:55
where you know in our interactions with you there
14:58
have been people who have called in that said
15:00
hey I ordered this online and I never got anything
15:04
and then you find out later that it was a website
15:06
that wasn't affiliated with Colorado in any way.
15:10
What are some tips that you can give to people
15:12
to basically pursue things through the correct
15:14
channels and not get caught up in fraud. Yes,
15:17
definitely. So I would recommend making sure
15:20
that they're on a government website. Also, if
15:23
they can get in touch with an office directly.
15:26
There are a lot of these what we call third,
15:29
fourth party vendors and what they're doing is
15:32
they are charging a fee for the application.
15:37
And the application is something free. You can
15:39
just go online, print the form, fill it out,
15:43
send it to the office. And that's a lot that
15:47
we're seeing is that they're charging families
15:49
for basically an application form. And we do
15:53
see sometimes that those requests do get to where
15:56
they need to go, but they're being overcharged.
15:59
We do partner with vitalcheck .com. That is a
16:04
secure, legitimate website. If you can get in
16:06
touch with an office, you know, to talk to somebody
16:08
and get all your questions answered, that's probably
16:11
the best. To learn more about birth certificates
16:13
or schedule an appointment, visit larimer .gov
16:16
slash birth records. The Larimer County Vital
16:19
Records Office is at 1525 Blue Spruce Drive in
16:23
Fort Collins. From time to time, we have guests
16:28
from outside the Larimer County Department of
16:30
Health and Environment. The opinions, information,
16:33
and viewpoints shared by guests on this podcast
16:35
are their own and do not necessarily represent
16:38
the official positions of our agency. This January,
16:43
we recognize Radon Action Month and the health
16:45
impacts of exposure to radon. With us today is
16:48
Heidi Noffman -Onda, a lung cancer survivor and
16:51
founder of the White Ribbon Project. Heidi, thank
16:53
you so much for joining us today. Well, thank
16:55
you for having me. Can you tell us a little bit
16:58
about yourself and what it is that you do? Being
17:00
a lifelong health enthusiast, health educator,
17:03
and a fitness trainer married to a primary care
17:05
physician, my family and I were blindsided by
17:08
my stage 3A inoperable lung cancer diagnosis
17:10
in October of 2018. Being that I'm a health educator
17:14
and he's primary care and we didn't know that
17:16
anyone with lungs could get lung cancer, we didn't
17:18
know anything about radon, we took it upon ourselves
17:21
to kind of build an awareness campaign. Lung
17:23
cancer awareness, lung cancer screening awareness,
17:26
radon awareness, and that's what I do now is
17:30
primarily advocate for education and awareness
17:33
so people can be proactive in their health against
17:36
this number one cancer killer. You mentioned
17:39
a stage three lung cancer diagnosis. Correct.
17:42
So this was a really scary thing. I had no symptoms.
17:47
I never coughed. I never got short of breath.
17:50
I was just going about my business being a fitness
17:53
trainer and doing my everyday athletic routines.
17:58
And one day I had a familiar kind of lower left
18:04
Throb in my lower left abdomen and it reminded
18:07
me of ovarian cysts that I had had in my life
18:10
and so I got some follow -up on this cyst and
18:14
It was quite sizable So my doctor wanted to make
18:19
sure I didn't have ovarian cancer and ordered
18:21
a CT scan of my chest abdomen and pelvis and
18:24
what came back was totally shocking it was like
18:27
Looks like you have a benign ovarian cyst, but
18:29
you have a mass in the upper left lobe of your
18:32
lung, and you have some lymph nodes in the middle
18:34
of your chest that look plump. Understand what
18:40
any of that can mean because I never had any
18:42
respiratory symptoms at all, but the next day
18:44
I was getting a PET scan and That lit up like
18:48
a Christmas tree and before I knew it I was getting
18:50
a biopsy and then I was then the recipient of
18:53
a phone call Telling me that I had stage 3a and
18:56
operable lung cancer Pretty much no hope for
18:59
me Even though I was stage 3 and that I should
19:02
get my affairs in order that maybe I'd had four
19:04
to six months of life left I couldn't believe
19:07
what I was hearing because not only was I asymptomatic,
19:10
but I felt great. I felt like the best I've ever
19:12
felt in my life. And how could this be happening?
19:15
And once I met my oncologist, though, I was given
19:18
so much more hope. He told me that, yes, I would
19:21
have to have chemo radiation. And until recently,
19:24
there really wasn't a lot of hope. But there
19:26
had been a new immunotherapy that had just been
19:29
FDA approved about a month prior to my diagnosis.
19:32
And I could get that. in the form of an infusion,
19:37
just like chemo, every other week for an entire
19:40
year, and that had curative intent. So I'm sitting
19:43
here with you today, seven years, three months
19:47
out, because research matters. There is hope
19:50
in lung cancer these days, and there's a lot
19:52
of information we need to get to people. Wow,
19:54
that sounds like a very long and arduous journey.
19:58
How did you guys kind of piece together that
20:00
was most likely caused by radon? Right. So, you
20:02
know, again, being a health educator and my husband
20:04
being a primary care physician, I think we understood
20:07
what most of the world assumes to be the cause
20:10
of lung cancer that, you know, without a smoking
20:14
history, how could I get this? It seemed like
20:17
just kind of a fluke. And then when we had to
20:20
tell our three adult children that I had lung
20:23
cancer and that the prognosis was terrible, their
20:26
heads were spinning because they grew up in a
20:28
very healthy household, clean eating, exercise.
20:32
But our son, he was studying environmental engineering
20:35
at the time, and he said, Mom, what's the radon
20:39
level of the house? I had no idea what he was
20:42
talking about. He gave me a very quick education.
20:45
We got the house tested and then we found out
20:48
our levels were twice what is considered to be
20:51
actionable by the EPA. We acted fast we got the
20:55
house mitigated before I even started treatment
20:58
our mindset was I'm gonna go through all of this
21:01
treatment and then to come home every day and
21:03
be you know saturated with Radon was was not
21:07
something we wanted to do so we made sure we
21:09
got the house mitigated right away our levels
21:11
came down very very quickly and Then I started
21:15
treatment From that point on, I started telling
21:18
all of my friends and neighbors and loved ones,
21:21
you know, about radon. And some of them were
21:24
actually quite surprised that we didn't know
21:27
because given our backgrounds and prevention,
21:30
but I didn't grow up in Colorado. I grew up in
21:32
California. I'd never heard of it, which really
21:34
doesn't matter because we know radon is everywhere
21:36
now. They were kind of surprised, you know, we're
21:38
the type of people, if I buy a vacuum cleaner,
21:41
we do our research. And so why didn't we know
21:43
about this? Well, we didn't. And they claim to
21:45
know a lot more because they had a brand new
21:48
house and that would, you know, be safe. Or they
21:51
had tested 20 years ago when they bought the
21:54
house so they knew they were safe. Or better
21:56
yet, they already had a mitigation system that
21:59
they put in years ago and they knew they were
22:02
safe. I challenge them to all be Taking a test
22:06
come on the test is free right if you you know
22:08
ask for one or you can buy one for small amount
22:11
of money in a Hardware store they all tested
22:14
and all of their radar and levels were much higher
22:16
than mine ever was So one of them had a mitigation
22:20
system that who knows when it stopped working
22:23
the fan just was not working So you know you
22:26
you got to think of these things and my son taught
22:28
me well as like a kitchen appliance They're not
22:32
going to last forever They do need to be checked.
22:35
I think the EPA recommends every other year.
22:38
My son recommends in our situation every six
22:41
months. And we were gifted so generously at the
22:44
beginning of our story with a continuous monitor.
22:47
And that's what we're most comfortable with now.
22:49
And we have seen spikes in our radon about two
22:52
years after we had our system put in. My husband
22:56
has the app that the continuous monitor is connected
23:00
to. And he was across town running some errands.
23:03
And he called me and he said, you know, I just
23:05
got alert through the app that our radon is higher
23:08
than it ever was. And he recited this really
23:10
scary number to me. And I go, well, we're sitting
23:14
in the middle of a rainstorm. It's coming down
23:16
like waterfalls here. He goes, you know, go down
23:19
in the basement and see if we have some water
23:21
in there. There was a little bit of water getting
23:23
in. But then I went to where the mitigation pipe
23:26
goes through the foundation of the house. And
23:28
it was literally backed up with mud along the
23:31
perimeter. So it couldn't work. But I wouldn't
23:35
have known that. I mean, what if I had been on
23:37
vacation and I didn't know that something like
23:40
this had happened? Having that system and alert
23:42
us, we knew to then take next steps. And we called
23:46
our mitigation company the next day. They walked
23:49
us through everything. My son said, open the
23:51
windows right away. That's a quick way to ventilate.
23:53
But again, it's not practical during a rainstorm.
23:55
It's not practical all winter. So to me, testing
24:00
for radon and mitigating, I want people to understand
24:04
not to be afraid to find out, because I think
24:08
the assumption is, well, what if I have it? Is
24:11
my house going to be condemned, or I'll never
24:13
be able to sell it? And it's like, no, there
24:16
are professionals out there that know how to
24:18
fix this. Sometimes you need adjustments, even
24:21
once it's been fixed, but it can be fixed. And
24:24
relative to what the cost of cancer treatments
24:27
were, mine, I never spent a day in the hospital.
24:31
I never had surgery. I had you know, chemo, radiation
24:36
treatments are very expensive, and then a year
24:38
of a new immunotherapy. I still haven't even
24:41
added up all of the surveilling since all this
24:44
seven years ago, but my bills amounted to about
24:47
three quarters of a million dollars. At the time,
24:51
the cost to fix, well, to mitigate my home, which
24:55
is about 5 ,000 square feet, was $950. So I know
24:59
the price has come up. But I also know Colorado
25:02
is very unique and they have the low -income
25:04
Radon mitigation assistance program and I know
25:08
people who have benefited from this And if you
25:11
make less than a certain amount as a single person
25:13
or as a family The state will pay for it and
25:16
I know people who have benefited from this This
25:19
is the only state in the country that has this
25:22
program right now Heidi once you piece together
25:25
that your home had elevated radon levels and
25:28
that may have been the cause of your lung cancer
25:31
mitigated your home did the rest of your family
25:33
get screened or how did you go about that process?
25:36
So screening for lung cancer is very very complicated
25:39
and controversial. Right now the only people
25:42
who are eligible for lung cancer screening which
25:45
is a low dose CT scan are people who have smoked
25:49
for 20 pack years that means a pack a day for
25:52
20 years or two packs a day for 10 years quit
25:56
less than 15 years ago. and are between the ages
26:00
of 50 and 80. My kids are all too young. They
26:04
don't fit the eligibility criterion. I don't
26:07
fit the eligibility criterion, although I qualify
26:11
for surveilling the rest of my life. I would
26:14
really like for people to not take this risk,
26:18
test their homes. There are a lot of advocacy
26:21
organizations, including ours, that are really
26:25
trying to increase the number of people who are
26:28
getting screened. Right now, the people we can
26:31
target are the people who are currently eligible.
26:33
There's more than 16 million Americans who are
26:36
eligible for lung cancer screening, and only
26:38
about 16 % of them are getting screened. That's
26:42
for a test that's been available since 2011.
26:45
If that were mammography or colonoscopy, that
26:48
would be front page news every day. This has
26:51
been such a silent epidemic, a silent, you know,
26:56
way to be proactive in your health and not the
27:00
awareness isn't out there so You know I became
27:04
outraged my husband became outraged We created
27:07
the white ribbon project because if we are gonna
27:09
sit around and wait for institutional messaging
27:12
to change I won't be I wouldn't be here right
27:14
now. We are moving the needle here. We are getting
27:18
the word out. We are putting pressure on hospital
27:20
systems, healthcare systems to do the right thing,
27:23
refer the people who are currently eligible.
27:25
Once that data improves, maybe we can then look
27:29
to getting people with other risk factors screened.
27:34
Eventually, basically, we like to say anyone
27:36
with lungs can get lung cancer. So just like
27:39
mammography, you know, colonoscopies. Prostate
27:42
cancer, if you have a prostate, you get screened
27:45
once you're a certain age. Mammography, if you
27:47
have breasts, once you're a certain age, you
27:49
get screened. I'd like to see the same thing
27:50
happen to lung cancer, but we need a better test.
27:53
We need something that's not as controversial
27:56
as a low -dose CT scan. Blood -based, saliva,
28:00
urine, whatever, we need it, and that takes research,
28:03
research dollars to help get that. The number
28:06
one cancer killer, that's what outrages me the
28:09
most. It's the most... It kills more people than
28:12
breast and colon cancer combined for decades.
28:17
And it has the least awareness and the least
28:19
amount of research funding. It's not okay. Initially,
28:24
getting the diagnosis and understanding the treatment
28:26
plan and the potential prognosis or, you know,
28:30
poor from poor to potentially cured... My head
28:34
was just spinning on that. I wasn't thinking
28:36
about advocacy. I wasn't thinking about all the
28:38
things that I just talked to you about. Right
28:40
on a little bit, I wanted to spread the word
28:42
to my family, my neighbors, get your homes tested.
28:45
But I wasn't really thinking about a movement.
28:48
Almost two years went by, and I still hadn't
28:50
met another person with lung cancer. And I thought,
28:53
you know, my friends with breast cancer, when
28:55
they were diagnosed, they were given a community
28:58
right away from their health care systems. And
29:01
this was the number one cancer killer, and was
29:03
given nothing. And I was diagnosed in October,
29:07
but my treatment started in November. And didn't
29:11
think of it then, but a year into it, I googled,
29:13
like, when's Lung Cancer Awareness Month? What's
29:16
the color? And it was like, well, it's November.
29:19
And I thought, gosh, I was in chemo. I was in
29:21
radiation every single day in November. I never
29:24
saw a white ribbon. White is the awareness color.
29:28
There was nothing. And it was approaching around
29:31
two years. And we were now in pandemic of March
29:34
of 2020. I had never met another lung cancer
29:37
patient. And then I found out that there was
29:39
an online, a national online support network
29:43
that Longevity which is a national advocacy organization
29:48
for lung cancer I would just click on the link
29:51
and then suddenly there were people all over
29:52
the country who had lung cancers and I was meeting
29:55
them and I just started to talk to them again
29:57
I was very shy and introverted person but that
30:01
moment I found my people and it was like we were
30:03
all sharing stories and I said well Are any of
30:06
you doing anything in trying to get your cancer
30:09
centers to do something for lung cancer awareness
30:11
month in November? And some of them had been
30:14
in the space for a while, and they go, oh, it's
30:16
useless. It's like talking to the wall. And I
30:18
go, well, this is March of 2020. Everybody is
30:22
homebound, pretty much. Let's see if we can.
30:24
You know, make some efforts and everybody try.
30:27
Let's send emails, let's reach out on their social
30:30
media, whatever. And then when we would meet
30:32
again the following week or weeks, we'd get the
30:35
same type of feedback. Either we were getting
30:37
totally ignored or we were getting, oh, great
30:41
ideas, we'll get back to you. And then months
30:43
would go by and we'd never hear anything. And
30:46
eventually for me, I was humiliated. A response
30:50
I got was that there are white lights in the
30:53
parking lot. that get turned on every night.
30:56
And doctors wear white coats. So we do the most
31:00
awareness for lung cancer than any other cancer.
31:04
And I thought, why is it okay to disrespect me
31:09
like that? And to talk to, not talk to me, but
31:12
communicate with me through other means. Because
31:17
my cancer happened to originate here in my lung.
31:21
But if it had originated anywhere else, my blood,
31:25
my breast, my colon, I would have empathy and
31:29
compassion. But I'm getting humiliated and disrespected.
31:34
And in that moment, I went from a very shy, private,
31:38
introverted person to the person who's talking
31:41
to you today. And I snapped literally in front
31:44
of my house. I screamed. My husband came out
31:47
of the garage. And he said, what is it? And I
31:50
just looked at him and I said, I want you to
31:53
make me a big white ribbon out of wood that I
31:56
could throw on the front door and at least educate
31:59
the neighbors, the delivery person that I have
32:03
lung cancer. I'm not ashamed of it. And we need
32:06
to talk about this because if it could happen
32:08
to me, it could happen to you. And one picture
32:12
on social media went viral. And before we knew
32:15
it, Pierre and I, at our own expense, were building
32:18
these ribbons, mailing them at our own expense
32:21
to patients, caregivers, medical community members,
32:25
scientists, anybody who wanted them. And with
32:29
the help of pharmaceutical company, we were then
32:32
able to ship these to 36 different countries.
32:35
So this became a global movement just within
32:38
a couple of months. And since then, my husband
32:42
has retired and He really doesn't have a retirement.
32:46
We work full time on the White Ribbon Project.
32:50
It's amazing what we do. We're getting people.
32:52
I mean, I couldn't believe the demand for these
32:56
because I thought, why would anybody want one?
32:59
They can't see it on this podcast, but it's two
33:02
feet tall by one foot wide with big lettering
33:05
that says lung cancer awareness on it. Why would
33:09
anybody want that if they were ashamed to have
33:12
this disease? And maybe that's how we break through
33:16
the stigma. We humanize it. As a health educator,
33:20
when I was living in Los Angeles in the early
33:23
90s, I worked with the HIV AIDS community, and
33:26
that's exactly what this community did. They
33:29
humanized this disease. And then it did become
33:32
a fact that anyone could get it. People were
33:35
now worried, and they wanted something done quickly.
33:39
I think if the community, if the world knew,
33:42
Not just people with lung cancer knowing the
33:44
statistics, but the world knew that this was
33:46
the number one cancer killer. You don't need
33:49
to have a smoking history to get it. That everybody
33:52
would be up in arms and want the same thing that
33:56
I want. More research funding for a better detection
33:59
and for more treatment options and to protect
34:02
people. And yes, people with smoking histories
34:05
also deserve empathy and compassion. You know,
34:08
people aren't evil because they smoke. For me,
34:12
again, a health educator, knowing how hard it
34:14
is to quit smoking, it's an addiction. It's not
34:19
just a habit. Picking your nose is a habit. This
34:23
is different. And people, my husband would even
34:27
tell me, 30 years of internal medicine practice,
34:31
he never had a patient who didn't want to quit.
34:34
It is hard. It is difficult. And where is the
34:38
empathy and compassion for that? So, lung cancer
34:42
is a very misunderstood disease. It's a disease
34:45
that can fit anyone. Radon is the number one
34:50
risk factor for people who have no smoking history.
34:54
Why doesn't the world know that? And testing
34:57
and mitigating is an easy thing to do. We want
35:03
people to be able to protect themselves, be proactive
35:06
in their health, like I always was. And I thought,
35:09
gosh, if only I had had the proper education,
35:11
but where was that supposed to come from? From
35:14
institutional messaging that's telling us one
35:16
thing and one thing only. Don't smoke and this
35:20
will not happen to you. And that is not the truth.
35:23
You've talked about finding people with similar
35:26
stories through the White Ribbon Project. Can
35:29
you share a little bit about that community and
35:31
the importance of having that community? That
35:34
community is our lifeline. I think one of the
35:38
things that happens to people when they're diagnosed
35:40
with something catastrophic is they're looking
35:44
for hope and they're looking for someone else
35:46
who has walked that path that they could look
35:48
to and say, oh my gosh, they're still here X
35:52
number of months or years or decades out there.
35:56
They're the only ones who are really going to
35:58
understand your fear and your worries. I have
36:04
a wonderful family. But until I met another lung
36:07
cancer patient, that was the person who I felt
36:10
that I could relate to the most and vice versa.
36:13
So I think that community is important in any
36:17
disease or any hardship that people have. You
36:20
always look for hope. And we are finding it now.
36:23
We are finding people like right when they're
36:25
diagnosed. I mean, I was almost two years out
36:29
before I met someone who had lung cancer. And
36:32
I've always said to myself, I wouldn't want anyone
36:36
to experience what I experienced for five minutes,
36:40
let alone years and decades. That's not okay
36:44
and these are things we can fix. So you'd already
36:47
mentioned that there are certain other risk factors
36:50
besides radon. Can you mention any others besides
36:54
smoking and radon that other people might want
36:56
to... to focus on or pay attention to. Yes. So
36:59
the International Association for the Study of
37:02
Lung Cancer, which is actually headquartered
37:03
in Denver, Colorado, they're kind of the clearinghouse
37:06
for all research worldwide. And they came out
37:09
with a position statement, I think it was in
37:11
2022 or 2023, that pollution is probably, you
37:17
know, a very, very high risk factor. We know
37:20
asbestos exposure. We know veterans have the
37:24
highest rate of lung cancer than any other cancer
37:28
and burn pit exposure, other environmental exposures.
37:34
We also are now trying to look into family history.
37:40
We don't know if that's genetics or if it's growing
37:44
up in the same environmental toxin perhaps. Could
37:49
it be radon? In Asia, there's a very, very high
37:52
prevalence of lung cancer in young Asian women.
37:57
They're looking at cooking oils. Is there's poor
37:59
ventilation? Is it hormonal? There are specific
38:03
types of lung cancer with specific... genetic
38:07
mutations within the tumor. So it's not like
38:09
a germ line. I mean, there may be one, but there's,
38:13
again, very little research money to look into
38:15
this. But the tumors have a particular rearrangement
38:18
of their DNA, basically. And those particular
38:24
mutations have targeted treatments that people
38:26
can have. They don't necessarily have to go through
38:29
infusion, chemotherapy, and radiation, there's
38:33
a particular pill that they can take. kind of
38:37
destroys whatever is making this tumor tick.
38:41
And that is a result of biomarker testing. And
38:44
so we, that's another issue in lung cancer. There's
38:47
a lot of people who don't know how to advocate
38:50
for themselves. They don't know what the current
38:51
science is. And every person who's diagnosed
38:54
with lung cancer now needs to insist that their
38:58
tumors get biomarker testing because there are
39:01
several treatments out there for different types
39:04
of mutation. That's even changed in the past
39:07
seven years since I was diagnosed. When I was
39:10
diagnosed, I could only be tested for particular
39:12
ones that there were only those FDA approved
39:16
treatments for. There are so many more mutations
39:18
now. It's possible that my tumor could have had
39:21
one of those, but it wasn't tested for it. Right
39:24
now, knock on wood or whatever, I'm doing well.
39:28
No evidence of disease, thanks to the immunotherapy,
39:31
but. This is not over for me. I see this every
39:35
day. People think they're cured five years, seven
39:38
years, ten years out. And then it comes back.
39:41
And it comes back with a vengeance. But what
39:43
we see happening now is treatment is becoming
39:47
more like a game of whack -a -mole. We get surveilled
39:50
pretty frequently. Something new pops up. Let's
39:53
biopsy it. Let's figure out what needs to be
39:56
done. Sometimes there's a targeted treatment
39:58
now. Maybe you didn't have that option. five
40:01
years ago but maybe you have it now or maybe
40:04
this is something you know what we could probably
40:06
surgically remove that one little piece or knock
40:09
it out with radiation and then hope we're good
40:12
for a while and then move on and then if it's
40:16
something else comes back again whack -a -mole
40:17
every time something pops up let's see if we
40:19
can knock it out but the patients who do the
40:23
best are the ones who know to ask tough questions
40:26
the ones to push their medical teams and in Colorado
40:30
we have Lots of great care here, but I still
40:34
give my doctors You know a challenge and I'm
40:38
not afraid to get second opinions here. There
40:40
is only one Comprehensive Cancer Center in Colorado
40:44
and that is see you and shuts And so I do recommend
40:47
when people are concerned and they don't, you
40:50
know, they're concerned if they've been to a
40:52
community hospital. I would say many of the community
40:54
hospitals here are very good and they're on top
40:56
of it. But sometimes if you're in a rural area,
40:59
your general oncologist may not know about the
41:02
biomarker testing. Reach out to the university,
41:05
get a second opinion, have them be part of your
41:07
treatment plan. Is there anything that we haven't
41:10
covered today that you would want people to know
41:13
about lung cancer? I guess I would. like them
41:16
to know they are at risk to get it, no matter
41:19
who you are, no matter where you're from. And
41:23
if you do have a heavy smoking history, please
41:27
tell your primary care team that you want your
41:30
lung cancer screening. The rest of us need to
41:33
stay tuned, need to make some noise as well.
41:37
Just like we did with HIV and AIDS, we wanted
41:40
a test. We wanted people to be able to get tested.
41:43
And that became the number one infectious disease
41:48
funded by the NIH until COVID came. So we went
41:52
from a disease that had a very high stigma. People
41:57
didn't care about it until they learned it could
41:59
happen to them. And I see this as being the same
42:02
recipe. We'd love the community to stand behind
42:05
this, know you're at risk, advocate for better
42:08
research funding. If you have a loved one with
42:10
lung cancer, and they need connection to a community,
42:13
please have them reach out to The White Ribbon
42:15
Project on our website, www .thewightribbonproject
42:19
.org, and we can help connect you. That's fantastic.
42:23
Thank you so much, Heidi, for joining us. We
42:25
really do appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you
42:27
for giving a platform to this number one cancer
42:30
killer. And let's get those numbers down, let's
42:33
get radon numbers down, and let's save some lives.
42:36
During the month of January Larimer County residents
42:39
can get a free Radon test kit to test their homes.
42:42
Visit larimer .gov slash radon to learn more
42:45
and order your test kit. Thanks for listening
42:48
Larimer County. Until next week, stay well, stay
42:50
connected and remember we really are healthier
42:53
together.