The Path to Purpose: Marlena Murphy Finds Meaning in the Challenges
Advocate Spotlight: Marlena Murphy Marlena Murphy’s cancer journey began when she discovered a lump in her left breast during her monthly self-check in May 2018. It was a moment that would change her life forever. Marlena contacted her primary care physician and was immediately scheduled for a diagnostic mammogram. Ultrasound ...
Brett Wilson – Navigating Childhood Cancer and Finding Purpose in Advocacy
Advocate Spotlight: Brett Wilson Brett Wilson's cancer experience started when she was just two years old. Her mother was concerned because she was sleeping a lot, so she took her to the doctor. Diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), her family was told she had little chance of survival. Her ...
NCCS Submits Comments on 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule
NCCS submitted a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), offering comments on the Medicare physician fee schedule proposed rule for calendar year 2024. NCCS also joined members of the Cancer Leadership Council (CLC) in submitting additional comments in a separate letter. In the letters, NCCS expressed ...
Championing Survivorship: Woody Brokenburr’s Lifelong Dedication to Cancer Advocacy
Woodrow “Woody” Brokenburr was diagnosed with cancer when he was 9 years old, after a biopsy revealed that the lump on his left thigh was osteosarcoma. In the 1960s, pediatric cancer care was challenging, even more so for Black children living in the racially segregated south, as access to quality ...
NCCS to Recognize Phuong Gallagher and Mary McCabe, RN, with 2023 Ellen L. Stovall Award
NCCS is pleased to announce the 2023 winners of the Ellen L. Stovall Award for Innovation in Patient-Centered Cancer Care are Phuong Gallagher and Mary McCabe, RN, MA. They will be recognized at the 2023 Ellen L. Stovall Award Reception on Thursday, October 26, 2023. NCCS presents the Stovall Award ...
Accessing COVID-19 Resources After the Public Health Emergency Ends
The COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), which has been in effect since early 2020, will end on May 11, 2023. The federal government may continue to distribute free COVID-19 tests from its supply of purchased COVID-19 treatments, tests, and vaccines through the United States Postal Service, states, and other community ...
NCCS Urges Insurance Companies to Preserve Access to DIEP Flap Breast Reconstruction
This week, NCCS joined other patient advocacy organizations and medical professional societies in submitting a letter to the CEOs of major insurance companies, expressing concerns with recent insurance coverage policy changes that have limited access to DIEP flap breast reconstruction surgery. Specifically, the letter asks these insurance companies to engage ...
Webinar – Amplifying Your Message: Advocating Through Traditional Media Channels
NCCS hosted a CPAT webinar on leveraging traditional media for cancer advocacy with public relations and marketing expert Michael Holtz. While social media is an important tool for amplifying cancer advocacy messages, traditional media outlets like newspapers, television, and radio, and their digital counterparts, are still relevant and can help ...
Lisa Rice – My Breast Cancer Journey: Many Lessons Learned and More in Store
During my final semester of college, a life-changing call came. My mother was in the hospital, waiting for results of a biopsy of a tumor she’d found in her breast. My father told me that she’d already decided, if the tumor was malignant, she would proceed with a radical mastectomy ...
Ruth Travis: Cancer Is Not a Death Sentence. It’s a License to Live.
Ruth Travis knows the power of early detection. She started getting regular mammograms when she was 40 years old. After 22 years, the annual process was nothing new. In 2007, Ruth arrived for her annual screening mammogram [...] ...
