Bank analyst got a physical to save on health-insurance costs; follow-up mammogram may have saved her life - LancasterOnline: Entertainment & Lifestyle

Bank analyst got a physical to save on health-insurance costs; follow-up mammogram may have saved her life By MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT | Lifestyle Staff TownNews.com

Christine Emerick cried just twice after her breast-cancer diagnosis.

She shed tears for the first time when the recliner she'd ordered for her mastectomy recovery was delivered.

Her tears fell again when she heard that her story had motivated at least four of her Susquehanna Bank co-workers to get their own mammograms.

The 40-something Emerick knows all the excuses women give for avoiding mammograms, from busy schedules to fear. She used the same ones herself.

The promise of saving money on her new health-insurance policy prompted Emerick to get a physical, followed by a long-overdue mammogram.

The scan found early-stage breast cancer.

Seven months later, Emerick is cancer-free after a double mastectomy. If she'd waited to get a mammogram, the cancer likely would have grown, limiting her treatment options and possibly even her life.

Left to my own devices, I would have put (a mammogram) off another year or so, she says.

Emerick, of Lancaster City, has spent most of her career in financial services. She joined Susquehanna as an operations analyst last July.

Bank staff members write a monthly blog that covers a variety of subjects. Corporate communications manager Kim Hatch wrote about mammograms for breast cancer awareness month last October.

We want employees to take care of themselves, Hatch says.

Around the same time, Emerick signed up for the company's health-insurance plan. Employees who complete an annual physical and online health-risk assessment tool can lower their monthly premiums.

Benefits director Dennis Luchey estimates that at least 80 percent of Susquehanna employees take advantage of the offer.

It doesn't ask a whole lot, he says. By doing those two items, they realize a wellness incentive, which reduces costs.

Emerick had her first mammogram in 2011. Getting another one wasn't a priority. Her family has no history of breast cancer, and she was busy.

The wellness incentive motivated Emerick to schedule a physical. Hatch's blog post convinced her to take it one step further and get a mammogram.

Last October, Emerick's surgeon spotted a tiny dot on her mammogram. A number of diagnostic tests, including a biopsy, confirmed early-stage breast cancer about a month later.

Feisty is a good way to describe where I was emotionally, Emerick says. I was not going to let this thing beat me.

Because her cancer had not spread, Emerick had several options, from watchful waiting to a double mastectomy. She knew a wait-and-see approach with tests and the accompanying anxiety every six months for life was not for her.

Emerick had a double mastectomy Jan. 3. I'm not a risk-taker, she explains. I'm a bank analyst.

To Emerick's immense relief, three oncologists agreed that she did not need follow-up chemotherapy or radiation. Her recovery went smoothly, and she returned to work in five weeks.

That turned out to be too soon.

I blasted through recovery and came back to work, and it was overwhelming, she says.

Emerick is grateful for her co-workers' support, from accommodating her many medical appointments to offering words of encouragement.

One co-worker thanked Emerick for motivating her to schedule her own mammogram. Hatch's blog post and follow-up suggestion to turn getting mammograms into a girls' night out convinced three others to get checked.

Hatch was thrilled that her blog posts made a difference.

(Emerick's thank-you email) is something I will save forever, it had such an impact on me, she says.

Emerick now keeps busy overseeing renovations to her home, working with veterans and inner-city youth as an Elks Club member and helping with online cancer support groups. She will have reconstructive surgery this fall.

Emerick hopes her positive outcome inspires more women to get mammograms, even if they think they're too busy.

Because my name came up in conversation somewhere, four people went to get checked, she says.

 

Bank analyst got a physical to save on health-insurance costs; follow-up mammogram may have saved her life - LancasterOnline: Entertainment & Lifestyle