Putting Heart and Soul in the Cancer Crusade
CELEBRATION
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Katherine Geyer
Boston University Washington News Service
September 21, 2006
WASHINGTON, Sept. 21–Nancy Kowal is concerned about a lot of things. She’s concerned about her cancer patients back in Worcester who are in the fight of their lives. She’s concerned that the members of Congress in the Capitol behind her aren’t taking her seriously. And she’s concerned about the results of her recent biopsy. Her cancer may be back.
Ms. Kowal, 63, of Worcester, was a Massachusetts ambassador for the American Cancer Society’s “Celebration on the Hill” event on Wednesday. She joined thousands of cancer survivors and advocates representing each state to spread awareness of the disease and encourage members of Congress to increase cancer research spending by at least 5 percent.
She knows that once a person is afflicted with cancer, it never truly leaves their life, and she doesn’t allow members of Congress to forget it. She said that because of her persistence, she’s known on Capitol Hill as a “certified pain.”
Ms. Kowal was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1979 when her three children were just toddlers. She had a lumpectomy and cared for two sick children, one of whom died of severe heart disease at the age of six. “I got a little psychotic and made out my will and guardianship and almost sent my husband to the psychiatrist,” she said. “It almost devastated my family.”
As a nurse practitioner at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Ms. Kowal’s specialty is pain management. “Pain crosses all walks of life,” she said. “It directly affects how good your outcome is—whether you have surgery or whether you have a chronic condition. It’s the difference between walking and lying in bed.”
Ms. Kowal educates her patients on standards of pain for the various procedures so that they will know if they aren’t getting adequate care.
“Providers are not gods,” she said. “Patients need to be accountable and responsible for their own health.”
Ms. Kowal originally found her lump during a self-exam shortly after her mammogram came back negative. “I had to push to get proper care for myself,” she said. “It’s better to live and enjoy your family than to die from denial.”
She travels to Washington every few months to “cause trouble on the Hill,” she said. She studies the agendas of the members of Congress and doesn’t hesitate to let them know when they’re wrong. “It can’t all be about money, needles and surgery,” she said. “It has to be about long-term quality of life. It’s Band-Aids versus global thinking.”
Ms. Kowal often takes cancer patients with her when she meets with members of Congress to show them the human faces behind the stories. “I haven’t seen a legislator yet,” she said, “who can sit in front of a cancer patient and tell them, ‘No, I won’t.’ ”
Although she frequently encounters roadblocks, she said she believes in the legislative process. Since 1996, she has worked closely with U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and U.S. Rep. James McGovern (D-Worcester). Mr. McGovern said Ms. Kowal has poured her heart and soul into this cause.
“She represents hope,” Mr. McGovern said. “These women aren’t a briefing book. They represent real life.”
Mr. McGovern said he agreed that Congress needed to increase funds for preventive care. “What they say is that we don’t have the money, but the deal is, if you find better ways to treat people or cure people or prevent people from getting the disease, in the long run, we will save money,” he said.
Ms. Kowal said she believes in the future of cancer research. “I just hope I live long enough to see it all,” she said.
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