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Monday, October 13, 2014

Melissa Garner: An Introduction


The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) offers a wide range of offerings and services to blood cancer patients, their family members, caregivers and survivors.  In an effort to better educate people of what LLS has to offer in North Texas, we are starting a monthly series that will highlight one of the most unique and impactful resources we have for our patients in North Texas - the LLS Patient Advocate.

This month we introduce Melissa Garner, the LLS Patient Advocate at Baylor University Medical Center.  Melissa will be writing this monthly series.

"Hi.  My name is Melissa Garner and I am the Patient Advocate for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society at Baylor University Medical Center.  I am sure you are wondering what a patient advocate is and what my my role is in a patient's cancer journey.  I have the privilege of meeting with patients and caregivers who are receiving treatment here, either as in inpatient at BUMC or as an outpatient at TOPA.  I meet with patients and their families and provide them with disease-specific information, as well as information on the support services that available - which includes both online and live, in person support groups.  I also help patients apply for financial assistance via the LLS Copay Assistance program.  I spend quite a bit of time providing support groups for patients and caregivers, along with different education programs for patients, caregivers, and health care professionals.

The best part of what I do is to listen.  I am a better person for hearing the stories of the patients and caregivers going through this journey.  An added bonus is that I love all the people I get work with every week.

Come by and visit me sometime.  My regular schedule is Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the Cvetko Center, Suite 200 of the Sammons Cancer Center.

I look forward to meeting you.

Melissa"
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Melissa Garner is a Patient Advocate for the North Texas Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  She is based at Baylor University Medical Center in the Cvetko Center.  She meets with patients and their families after receiving a blood cancer diagnosis.  Last year she met with 1,045 people at Baylor. 

Contact Melissa:

Melissa.Garner@lls.org

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