SAN ANTONIO — Governor Abbott said Friday that medical surgeries put on hold because of the coronavirus could be relaxed or lifted as early as next week. The news is a relief to people battling cancer.
Around 19,000 people are going to be diagnosed with cancer this year. We spoke with one woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer in February but found out just four days before her surgery to get the tumor out was being put off indefinitely.
Renee Silber from the American Cancer Society told us, "Tuesday, February 18 was quite an interesting day because that morning, I was taking my normal walk and my daughter called me to tell me she was pregnant. By 4 o'clock that afternoon I had been given the news that I had this breast cancer."
Things seemed to be going smoothly. Silber said, "We caught it very early. I had a routine mammogram which turned into a biopsy which sent me to a doctor. Once they diagnosed me I got a surgeon within four days."
But just four days before surgery was supposed to happen it was called off. Silber told us, "The surgeon called me and said we're done. Canceled, postponed indefinitely, pulled the plug."
But a staff member with the American Cancer Society knows the programs that are out there to help others in the same situation she's in: Health Insurance Assistance program, Cancer Survivors Network, 24/7 cancer hotline and the Reach to Recovery Program.
According to a recent survey from the American Cancer Society Action Network, more than half of those surveyed reported some impact on their care due to coronavirus; 27 percent of those in active treatment said there was a delay in their care and 13 percent had no idea when it would be rescheduled.
In March, a whopping 80 percent of calls into the American Cancer Society's 24-hour hotline were related to coronavirus.
If you are battling cancer the American Cancer Society encourages anyone with questions to use their 24/7 hotline. That number is 1-800-227-2345.