Meet Della. Wife, mother, grandmother, and ADVOCATE!

I was scared when I found out that I had breast cancer. I had seen my brother go through cancer treatment and knew that I wanted a more patient-centered, nurturing experience for myself. I found all of that—and more—at HOA. Their windows were what drew me in; they were like a ray of hope. And while I was overwhelmed by the amount of information presented to me at my initial appointment, my nurse practitioner walked me through every detail of my treatment; and when I saw the doctor, he explained everything in a way that was easy for me to understand. At HOA, they get to know you and your personality; they want to make you comfortable, and their goal is to keep you out of the hospital as much as possible, which was the opposite of what my brother had experienced. If you find yourself on the path of being a cancer patient, trust me, it’s HOA that you want on this journey with you.

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My biggest fear after receiving my cancer diagnosis was that I would have the same experience as my brother, which was that he felt pretty much alone at the facility where he received his treatment. There were small, cubby-style rooms that felt cold, sterile and impersonal. Plus, my brother saw so many different doctors that the information that was provided to us was often inconsistent; it was frustrating. 
At HOA, I was given a 90-minute evaluation appointment during which my treatment options were explained, step-by-step. I met Dr. Cherny, who would be my physician, and Kathy Snyder, who would be my nurse practitioner. Kathy told me that when I wouldn’t be seeing Dr. Cherny, I’d be seeing her. They got to know me, and my symptoms, and had my back the entire time.


At HOA, I felt that not only were my physical needs met, but also my mental, spiritual, and emotional needs as well. One day, when I was called in for treatment, I burst into tears in the patient waiting area when my name was called. Kathy just looked at me, and said, “I know.” While of course she couldn’t know exactly what I was going through, she knew that this was hard for me, and understood that I was going to break down from time to time.



If there was one thing that I’d want people to know about HOA, it’s this: If you can’t be home with your own family during treatment, you have your HOA family. They really are the next best thing. I’m coming up on six years cancer-free later this year and I would not have made it this far without HOA.

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