 My name's Kathy Allen and I'm a real estate agent here in Portland, Oregon. I went in for my routine mammogram and they called me up and said we need to do some extra film, some extra pictures. They saw an area that was concerning and that they wanted to biopsy it so I had the procedure done on Tuesday and I got a phone call on Thursday from Rhonda. I am your nurse navigator. I am here to help you. What it is is registered nurses who specialize in oncology nursing that take the patient from diagnosis all the way through treatment and beyond into survivorship. It takes a nurse navigator to make sure that those patients are plugged in, that they are prepped appropriately, that they're supported through that process. So together we're gonna walk this journey and I'm gonna make sure you've got that support person that's gonna be me. We just can't do those kind of multidisciplinary collaborative programs without the navigator so really the glue that hold the program together. She was able to offer me an appointment where I could meet with the radiation oncologist, the medical oncologist and then surgeon all in one meeting. When I left I had met with all three doctors. I had my surgery already scheduled and everything was moving forward. You know it wasn't oh well we need you to go here and we need you to go there and then we need you to go there. They all came to me essentially and so I felt very valued in that. Nurse navigation allows for medicine and treatment of cancer to be so personalized for that experience and that treatment journey to be unique to the individual that is going through it. They help them find resources for those different things. They run a wig closet, they connect them with support groups, cancer counselors, so there's so many things that come up that you just don't even think about. It's not just the cancer, it's not just your chemotherapy or your surgery or your radiation it's all these other parts of your lives that are changed. The day that we met Kathy was in the multidisciplinary clinic and she had one test that was outstanding that if it was positive it meant she needed chemotherapy and if it was negative she wasn't gonna need chemotherapy. That test came back as negative and so when I got that test result it was a great day. I was so excited because it was weighing very heavy on me. Next to wedding, birth of children, no chemo day was probably my next great day. They allow you to see the vulnerable sides of themselves that this impacts and you know that is such a huge humbling responsibility and privilege. To know that I can call one person at any time anytime and find out information that I need it makes me feel valued. I'm not just a number. I'm not just an empty face. I'm Kathy.