Please be advised that Good Days will be closed on Friday, March 29th, 2024 in observance of Good Friday. We will resume normal hours of operation Monday, April 1st at 8:00 AM Central Standard Time. 

 

Giving Good Days Summer Newsletter- 2021

Click here to download the Summer Newsletter

Meet Dawn and Her Family

Supermom to Jonah, Joel, Gracie and Hannah
 

“Thank the Lord my children have never been without their medications,” says Dawn, a mother of four, two of whom are diagnosed with cystinosis, a rare, multisystem genetic disorder. “It is always in the back of your mind when you know that your child needs medicine to live. When you hear that your insurance does not work today, it is scary because it adds up quickly and it’s times two for us. I don’t mean to sound cliche or dramatic, but support from Good Days is literally life changing.”

On top of the everyday tasks of raising a family of four, an average day for Dawn will include scheduling and administering treatments for her five year old daughter, Hannah and 16-year old son, Joel, coordinating with five different pharmacies to ensure medicine remains available for them both and frequent drives to and from treatment centers.

“It’s one thing to need to provide shelter, food and education, but then add in the facet of medication around the clock times two,” says Dawn. “You cannot do anything without making sure your kids have the meds they need. People don't understand that it really is a full time job.”

Dawn and her husband Travis were both relieved when they learned that Good Days could assist with copay and premium assistance as well as with travel reimbursement for the added costs to get to and from Hannah and Joel’s important medical appointments at specialty treatment centers that are far from their home, including when Joel required kidney transplants in 2018 and 2020.

“My family is not dealing with a normal situation. Insurance policies do not assure that the doctors or medications that we needed would be covered,” says Dawn. “We were so thankful when we learned about the many assistance programs offered by Good Days. It was a huge blessing.”

Despite the unique challenges of the past year, the entire family is glad to be doing well. Jonah, the eldest child, is getting ready to graduate homeschool, while Joel enjoys spending his days outdoors as much as possible. Gracie, 11, recently raised $1,000 for a children’s hospital through an auction of her artwork. Hannah, the youngest of the bunch, is quick-witted and has the greatest sense of humor of them all.

“When something huge like premium assistance is alleviated and you know that although you have all these balls to juggle in the air, now you have one less, the peace you get from that is priceless in my situation,” says Dawn. “If I could just keep everything else going, at least get to the pharmacy, the visits would be taken care of. It means so much because I have two of these rare kiddos. Staying adherent is so important that it goes without saying.”

 

Partner Spotlight

National Breast Cancer Foundation

Did you know that one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime? While there is currently no known cure for breast cancer, early diagnosis is critical to survival.

“Cancer is a lifetime commitment and a family commitment, because while [my wife] went through it, every moment of that became something we all had to deal with and process. We were all supporting her,” says Raj Patel, a National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) Ambassador and the primary caregiver to his wife Amy, a breast cancer survivor who is now seven years in remission.

Like countless individuals before him, Raj was grateful to find support through NBCF’s comprehensive programming. Receiving a breast cancer diagnosis can be a scary and isolating experience, but NBCF specializes in making sure no one is alone in their fight. NBCF provides help and inspires hope to those affected by breast cancer through early detection, education and support services. They are dedicated to delivering educational information on breast health and healthy living. From understanding the importance of early detection, to knowing how to prepare for a mammogram, NBCF's online resources and guides aim to empower women and men with useful information.

NBCF was founded in 1991 by breast cancer survivor Janelle Hail, who was diagnosed in 1980 at the age of 34. Back then there was little information about the disease, and she was forced to make a decision about her health with few options. After her treatment, Janelle made a commitment to help people around the world by educating them about breast cancer and the importance of early detection. Since then the national non-profit has become one of the most recognized and respected breast cancer charities in the world.

Today NBCF continues to remove barriers in the complex cancer care system, such as cost, fear and misinformation, that prevent patients from getting the care they need quickly. Timely care and support can increase the quality of life and likelihood of survival by keeping women on track with their treatment and follow-up survivorship appointments.

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with breast cancer, visit www.nationalbreastcancer.org to learn about available resources for every stage of the process.

Key Quarterly Content

Our new SMS feature instantly connects you with a Good Days Care Navigator via text message.

This new feature provides another high-touch access point to more easily communicate with Good Days' Care Navigators and learn about our charitable assistance programs, request support with enrollment or payment and receive information about patient resources. The text feature feeds the information directly to Good Days proprietary system, allowing patients to securely communicate and send documents through their mobile devices.

You can text 972-608-7141 during business hours, Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm CST to connect with a Care Navigator.

 

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

CLORINDA WALLEY

I hope you are enjoying sunnier days and warmer weather. We have so many exciting initiatives underway this summer that we are excited to share with you.

In the past few months we kicked-off our Chronic Disease Day webinar series with a virtual event on caregiving in America. We hosted a renowned group of speakers who offered valuable suggestions on how to better support our loved ones and ourselves.

On June 10th we’ll host our second virtual event of the year and focus on health disparities in America. Joining us will be a very special guest: U.S. Congresswoman Lauren Underwood, a registered nurse and the youngest African American woman to serve in the United States House of Representatives. If you cannot watch live with us on our Facebook or YouTube channels, be sure to check out our excellent webinar recordings at chronicdiseaseday.org.

On a more personal level, Good Days remains dedicated to improving the experience of those we serve directly through our charitable assistance programs. With text messages becoming the most common form of communication, we were excited to recently announce the launch of a new mobile phone text message support feature that instantly connects users to a live Care Navigator.

Our new text message capability will make it even easier for people to get the healthcare information and resources that they cannot live without. Between our phone lines, live website chat and now text messaging, we're glad to offer a variety of secure communication channels so that people can reach us in whatever way they find most convenient.

With Chronic Disease Day around the corner, be on the lookout for more announcements on how Good Days is growing to better support individuals who live with chronic and rare conditions.

Until next time, I want to thank all of our supporters who help make our mission possible. Your generous support is felt by the hundreds of thousands of individuals we assist in their time of need.

 

Sincerely,

Clorinda Walley, President

Good Days

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