Sus Inima2022-11-23T14:48:46+02:00Behind the association SUS INIMA there is, obviously, a team of dedicated people who are making the magic happen. These people deserve to be known because their stories are impressive, each one being an inspiration.
Today we're going to talk about Anca Gavrilă.
The first thing you notice when talking to Anca is her dynamism. You have to keep up with her. She's always doing something and it seems like she's programmed to "give". She’s a problem solver and a solution finder, a trait shared by the whole SUS INIMA team.
It can be a challenge to introduce her because you don’t know what to say first. She’s a multitasker and her story is compelling, rich, because Anca never had time to get bored.
Of the many roles she plays in this life, the first one I choose to mention is that of Oncology Navigator. An Oncology Navigator is a person trained to help patients navigate the difficult path that awaits them following their diagnosis. The infrastructure is severely lacking in this regard and most patients who wake up with this diagnosis do not know which way to turn and what the steps would be. There is no clear source of information on the coherent course of events and treatments. Thus the occupation of Oncology Navigator was born.
Anca sees the events in her life as gifts and one of the gifts was discovering her diagnosis early. Yes, Anca is also an oncological patient, and this helps her understand on a deeper level the needs of the patients. She discovered the cancer in 2017, after changing her diet and losing 25 kg. She felt a lump in her right breast. She didn’t think twice and went for an ultrasound, then a mammogram, then oncological investigations. It took 30 days before her fears were confirmed. She went into this story in high spirits, she was in a period of healthy weight loss and had a lot of zest for life. This helped her tremendously to have a positive attitude no matter how difficult the road sometimes became.
She was recommended to do surgery and then specific treatment, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. She had the surgery in Cluj and found it as an easy experience because she was home in 3 days. She was lucky to find a good surgeon, but after the operation the surgeon is no longer involved in the process. When the post-operative sick leave came to an end, the question “What do I do now?” came up. It was a difficult time because she found there was no one to guide her, no one to ask what the next step was.
She learned what to do next from a friend who had an acquaintance who was going through the same process. This was followed, two months after the operation, by 4 doses of chemotherapy. By the third dose, the pain, weakness and helplessness were far beyond what she would have expected to experience, which gave rise to a state of humiliation which she finds hard to describe. It was an extremely difficult period in which she felt a lot of fear, especially at night, a period she managed to get through only with the help of God and her family.
Another of Ana’s roles is being a mother. Her son was 4 years old at the time and the emotions she felt when she thought of him were oscillating. His presence was a source of strength, telling herself that having him she would be able to fight, but the thought immediately arose that if she gave in, the child would grow up without a mother.
Another challenge was the financial aspect. Doing the treatments in Cluj, there was a lot of travel, nights of accommodation, food and many other unforeseen expenses, which sometimes were quite high.
This diagnosis has taught her that she has to find something good in everything that happens to her, and she passes this on to the patients she works with. It motivates her that people open up to her when they find out she has also gone through the illness. When she looks back, the most difficult times were when she didn’t know what was next. Anca has found that doctors don’t have much knowledge about going through this illness. She managed to find out where to turn, who was going to give her treatments and sick leave next, and generally what to expect, asking questions left and right. That was the moment she vowed to do her best to inform as many people as possible about what to do when they go through this disease.
A good friend who had also been through cancer told her that she needed to learn to live with cancer, just as others live with diabetes, high blood pressure, missing a leg, or any other health problem. She also communicates this with conviction to everyone she works with in her work as a Cancer Patient Navigator. You remain a cancer patient for life, because what caused a tumor to form stays with you even after the tumor is removed, and the chances of recurrence are higher. But Anca sees this as another gift. Because cancer patients have to go for regular check-ups, they can spot any recurrence early on.
She sees the diagnosis as a gift from God because she has noticed, both in herself and in many others who receive Sus Inima’s services, that the diagnosis came as a result of a trivial event, which she cannot explain in any other way than by Divine intervention.
The Sus Inima Association came into her life when Carmen Chindriș saw her on the street, almost bald, and suggested to take the pilot Cancer Patient Navigator course together. Thinking about how hard it was for her when she was struggling through the system herself, she decided to take the course. Soon after, she took over the accounting side of the association, because Anca is an accountant.
The Navigators course was full of patients and former patients. They were introduced, one by one, to all types of cancer. The presentation went from suspicion to treatment and encouraged them to bring their medical records to better understand their disease. When she brought in her records, she finally understood what happened to her during her treatment and why certain decisions were made. Unfortunately oncologists are not willing to explain, they don’t have the time or patience.
From her navigator courses, but also from her own experience, she has learned how important it is what and how you talk with the patients and carers, because you can give them misconceptions and they might end up blaming themselves for the disease they have. Anca also talked a bout how quickly people’s mood improves when they realise they are not alone and that there is life after cancer and Anca is a true example. People get sad, tired, depressed and after a few days at Sus Inima, they flourish.
The association’s motto is “So that no one goes through cancer alone” and Anca thinks it’s the best possible message. Even today, after all this time, after having a conversation with a patient, the moment she finishes, or hangs up the phone, she says to herself “so that no one goes through cancer alone”.
Through her illness, Anca has herself become a gift to all people who need support and guidance. Perhaps her tumor was a blessing in disguise that transformed A nca into an instrument through which God continues to give gifts to those in need. So, her theory holds true, everything we receive is a gift if we learn to look at it from the right angle.
