Patient Advocacy Stories: Connecting People to Financial Assistance

Jim had been diagnosed with asbestosis twenty years ago and had gotten a small settlement from a small firm back then. He and his wife Carolyn live in Peoria, Illinois, where he spent his career at Caterpillar. When he was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma, they came to us through a Doctor Match ad after researching treatment options on their own for a while.

Finding the Right Care

Carolyn wanted a specialist who actually treated this kind of case, not just a local doctor. I recommended Dr. Kindler, and our Medical Outreach team helped get them an expedited appointment. I also explained why the firm that had handled Jim’s asbestosis case years ago wasn’t the right fit anymore. This illness is different, and they needed a national firm with real experience in cases like his. They agreed to talk to Simmons, and once Missy got them in front of Dr. Kindler in person, they signed.

Legal help wasn’t even what Carolyn was looking for when she first called. What she was thankful for was learning everything else we could do for both of them. They came to us looking for help with treatment, and we were able to help with other parts of what they were dealing with too.

Richard was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma in March. He and his wife Lynne live in North Port, Florida, though they spent most of their lives in Connecticut. He’d worked in construction for years with direct exposure to asbestos, and he’d also been exposed secondhand through his father’s work.

I called Lynne right as she was hanging up with another firm. Once we started talking, I learned they were already speaking with a local Florida firm too, on top of a couple of others. I explained that we’re a patient advocacy center, not a law firm ourselves, so my job wasn’t to sell them on any one option. It was to connect them with whoever would do right by Richard’s specific case.

Helping Richard and Lynne With Their Options

I sent Lynne grant information, checked in with her daily, and made sure she knew she could call me anytime. She and Richard decided to move forward with an attorney I connected them with, and he signed the case two days after Lynne first reached out to him.

What made this one stick with me is how much Lynne needed someone in her corner who wasn’t trying to sell her anything. She trusted me because I wasn’t asking her to.

Donald came to us through Danielle first, while he and his wife were waiting on a confirmed diagnosis. I called them the day after that diagnosis came back, and I’ve been his advocate since.

Donald’s a Navy veteran, and he’d already filed his VA claims on his own. What worried him was everything the VA wouldn’t cover. He wanted to look into legal options too, but he told me flat out he didn’t know where to start. I gave him two options: a smaller firm with offices in multiple states, including one near him, and a larger national firm that’s been handling Navy asbestos cases since the 1980s. Both have strong track records. He reached out to the national firm but didn’t commit right away.

Weighing Different Legal Options

I kept following up. At one point his wife mentioned they had a friend in Texas, not a veteran, who’d gone through his own mesothelioma case, and she wanted to use the same firm their friend had used. I told her that was a completely reasonable choice. Not long after, she read a news article about a lawsuit filed against that firm, and she came back wanting to look at other options again.

I mentioned that one of the lawyers at the national firm they’d already talked to is a veteran himself. That was enough. They canceled the other appointment and went with the firm I’d originally recommended. I was glad I could help them make a choice that felt right for them.

Daniel was 32 when he was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma in January. He’d grown up in an older home, and he later told me his grandfather and aunt had both had mesothelioma too.

He filled out a form for our Meso Care Kit in June, but the phone number on it was wrong. I tracked down his correct number and called for two weeks before he finally called back. He’d been waiting on the chemo kit to help him through treatment, and once we connected, that’s what got the conversation started.

Helping Daniel With Financial Concerns

Daniel wasn’t sure at first about pursuing legal help or exactly how he’d been exposed. I explained what proving exposure could mean for him, and he agreed to talk to an attorney I trust.

I kept in touch with him after that, and when he told me he was having trouble paying his bills, I let him know the firm could help establish his exposure history once he’d signed on. I was texting back and forth with the attorney about it, and he called Daniel within fifteen minutes. Daniel signed virtually that same day.

What stands out to me about Daniel’s case is how much can turn on a single wrong phone number. If I hadn’t tracked down the right one, we might never have reconnected at all.

Herbert was 79, a Navy veteran, and he’d already made up his mind about which law firm he wanted before he called me. He’d talked to four different firms on his own by that point. We started with the firm he had in mind and talked through his experience and what he was looking for.

Matching His Navy Experience

As we talked, I told him the firm he’d chosen was a strong option, but I thought he’d be better served by an investigator who understood his exposure history. The investigator had served on the same kind of ship Herbert did during his time in the Navy. They talked once, and Herbert signed with that firm within days.

What stood out to me about Herbert was that he had already done a lot of the work himself. He didn’t need me to give him a long list of firms. He needed help making sure the firm he chose understood his particular Navy exposure, and that’s what we were able to help him with.

I first spoke with Bill eight years ago. He was a veteran in his late 80s with no family, and for a long stretch of time we talked every week, about 30 minutes each call. It started with questions about diet and nutrition. He was getting chemo out in California, where he lived.

Making Sure His Friend Was Taken Care Of

Bill didn’t have family, but he had what he called a lady friend, and he wanted to make sure she’d have something if anything happened to him. He asked me to help him find the right legal help to pursue compensation so he could set that up for her. Once it was secured, he thanked me for connecting him with the right people.

He was older, and he knew he might not have much time left, but what mattered to him wasn’t compensation for himself. It was making sure his friend would be taken care of. I’ve thought about Bill a lot over the years, especially because he wanted that money for someone else and not for himself.