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n January 2013, 60-year-old Nahla Faraj heard two words no one wants to hear: breast cancer. It was the beginning of a long journey to health, one made significantly more tolerable by the support of her DMC physicians and the hospital system's support services.
A routine mammogram revealed a tumor in Faraj's breast and a mastectomy soon followed. Her health care team then prescribed a course of chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Today, Faraj is cancer free and on an extended course of Tamoxifen in an effort to keep the cancer from returning.
During her cancer journey, Faraj was under the primary care of Dr. George Saad, M.D., whose bedside manner left Faraj feeling at ease.
"He always treated me well," she says. "He cared when I had problems."
During her weeks of treatment, Faraj relied on the complimentary transportation offered by the DMC. Twice a week, a DMC driver arrived at her Dearborn home to take her to treatments. At each appointment's conclusion, she called the driver who returned to pick her up and take her back to her home.
She has since used the transportation services of the DMC for follow-up appointments. Faraj is still weak from her breast cancer treatments and is glad that finding a way to her appointments is one less stressor she has to deal with.
Complimentary transportation to appointments is a benefit available through the DMC to patients who are part of the Healthy Michigan Plan/Path to Health program of which Faraj is a participant.
"I didn't have to pay a thing for this transportation or my care," Faraj says. "Everything was perfect."
Facts about Breast Cancer in the United States
- One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime.
- Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women.
- Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death among women.
- Each year it is estimated that over 220,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 40,000 will die.
- Breast cancer has one of the highest success rates for survival among cancer diagnoses if it is caught early and treated.
Source: National Breast Cancer Foundation
