Testimonials

Plan Preventive Care Saved My Life, Woman Reports

“My husband, Joseph, is a lobsterman out of Cohasset harbor. For years we were not able to afford health insurance. When the opportunity arose for us to join the Fishing Partnership Health Plan in 1997, I was so happy and relieved. It felt like my heart skipped a beat.

“For the first time in our lives, we were able to go to doctors before we were extremely ill. Before we had the Fishing Partnership Health Plan, my husband and I only went to the doctor when we were so ill we could hardly get there. Now, we have preventive health care. What a difference!

“Most important, we are able to go to our local doctor, who is also a friend. Knowing us so well, he is like a “country” doctor. Because of the Plan, we also have access to specialists whenever we need them.

“In April of 1998, I made a routine visit to my doctor and he noticed that a freckle on my face looked a bit different. He insisted on taking a biopsy right there in his office even though I had been to a dermatologist a few months before and he had said the freckle looked normal.

“As fate would have it, the ‘freckle’ was really malignant melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer. My local doctor referred me to plastic surgeons and guided me through all the appropriate steps.

“Fortunately, the melanoma had not spread; my doctor caught it in time. The only lasting effect of the cancer is a negligible scar on my jaw line. And I have to see the doctors at Mass. General every three months for a check-up.

“I believe that my local doctor, my primary caregiver, saved my life. On top of that, all the doctors I saw during the crazy period when I was dealing with cancer were phenomenal, partly due to my doctor’s guidance but also due to the Fishing Partnership Health Plan. Without the Plan, I never would have been able to see the specialists I needed. They would have been out of reach for me if I were paying for that care on my own.

“All the riches in the world won’t buy you good health. But if all of us had the opportunity to join a health plan as good as the Fishing Partnership Health Plan, we would all be so much better off.”

LYN CONGDON PREVITE, Cohasset, MA