Coming Home
A native Arizonian, Mary lives in the small town of Bisbee, with her husband, Dan. Mary has lived there for over 40 years, watching the little town on the Mexican border become the place it is today: one of Conde Nast’s top places to visit. When Mary moved in 1981 from another nearby mining town, she’d never visited and had little idea what was in store.
“When we moved here, it felt like coming home,” Mary said.
A registered nurse, Mary formerly ran a local physician’s practice and later served as her county’s Health Department Director. It was at that job in November 2012 that, while climbing a short flight of stairs to her office, Mary realized she couldn’t catch her breath. She tried to calm herself until it passed, yet a week later she experienced another episode while driving.
Mary said she asked herself: “If you had a friend in this situation, what would you tell your friend to do?”
Mary said she knew the answer and drove herself to a Phoenix hospital. It took doctors only 36 hours to diagnosis her with pulmonary hypertension, a rare heart disease.
“It really was a miracle,” Mary said. “If those symptoms happened to me in our little hospital, it could have been months before a diagnosis was made.”
Mary began treatment and continued to work for a few more years, but she struggled. Between her health, work stress, and caring for her elderly mother, Mary felt like she was on duty around the clock. Needing to make a change, she applied for long-term disability.
While Mary was working, her health insurance had covered the costs of her pulmonary hypertension treatment. But once she stopped, the cost skyrocketed.
“That’s where our financial troubles started,” Mary said. “Things got really scary for us.”
Mary learned about The Assistance Fund (TAF) through her pulmonologist in Tucson. She applied to TAF’s Pulmonary Hypertension Copay Assistance Program and was accepted. The program covers out-of-pocket costs, from copays to deductibles and coinsurance, for the FDA-approved treatment she needs to manage her disease.
“I don’t know what would have happened without TAF,” Mary said. “That was a huge weight that was lifted when I was able to get your financial help.”
These days, Mary is retired and stays busy gardening, swimming, and volunteering for local faith-based charities and civic organizations. When she’s not volunteering, she’s out with friends or spending time with Dan.
She realizes a lot of people worry about being bored in retirement. But with her health stable, Mary says this time has opened up a new wonderful life ahead of her.
“I’m a case study in someone who is meant to be retired,” Mary said.
