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September 29, 2009

She goes out of her way to help ‘her girls’ restore their looks

BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

By Joe Pinchot

The breast cancer patients who come to see Kari Williams exhibit a wide range of emotions.

“There are people who can’t wait to get in here, and then I’ve had people who are very emotional and teary-eyed,” said the employee of Advanced Health Services of Brookfield and Hermitage.

The company provides medical equipment such as diabetic and asthma equipment, wheelchairs and beds, but Ms. Williams, who manages the Hermitage office at 701 N. Hermitage Road, said she spends a lot of time with breast cancer patients.

For lumpectomy, mastectomy and reconstruction patients, Advanced Health, owned by Brian Difford, provides post-operative camisoles, lymphadema vests and arm sleeves, swimsuits, full and partial forms, bras for many different purposes and head wraps.

“If they’ve seen something on the Internet and we don’t have it here, we can order in what they’ve seen,” said Ms. Williams, who calls her patients “my girls.”

Some patients will come in before surgery to see what Advanced Health has to offer. Ms. Williams will provide a post-op camisole. The camisoles are much softer than they used to be and feature removable pockets for fluid drains.

The importance of the camisoles is that patients can walk out of the hospital without anyone being able to tell that they have had surgery, Ms. Williams said. People will focus on their eyes and not their missing breast or breasts, she said.

Ms. Williams pledges to take time with patients to get the right fit, and help them understand how the products can improve their self-esteem. She encourages patients to bring a friend to help them choose.

But, there are patients who are not ready to make a choice, and she respects that they need time, she said.

“I don’t force anything on them,” Ms. Williams said.

She said she wants her patients, who sometimes come in hunched over and afraid they will expose themselves, to “stand up and see themselves in the mirror like they did before.”

“I’m here to help them look nice again,” said Ms. Williams, who also gives referrals to support groups. “They’ve endured so much. I want them to have a happy experience.”

The range of products has expanded over the years, giving patients more choices.

“I had a patient, for years, who put a sock in her bra with rice in it,” Ms. Williams said.

She offers silicone “puffs” that fit inside bras, or contact forms that attach directly to skin. Lumpectomy forms are specially ordered to “balance out” a patient’s look, she said.

Ms. Williams considers herself a patient advocate, and wants to be part of a patient’s healing process. If a patient seeks a service she cannot provide, or the patient’s insurance does not cover, she refers the patient to someone who can help her.

“I’m not going to boot them out the door,” said Ms. Williams, a respiratory therapist.

In that light, Ms. Williams also collects lightly used bras for people who have little or no insurance.

“I’m trying to expand to do more for people,” she said.

Ms. Williams said her breast cancer patients are some of her favorite patients.

“They touch my life more than I ever touched theirs,” she said. “Their stories stick with me.”

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