Breast cancer survivors find hope in each other at Hope Lodge
When Patti Esch was told that StoryCorps, a traveling oral history project that allows people to interview each other about their lives and archives the interview in the national Library of Congress, was coming to Grand Rapids, she knew right away she had a story to tell and knew just the person with whom she wanted to tell it.
 The 41-year-old mother of eight from Edmore, Michigan, had no insurance when she first felt a lump in her breast. Patti’s doctor urged her to seek treatment, and within a matter of days, she was approved for Medicaid coverage through the Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program (BCCCP).
Because her aggressive form of cancer (Stage III) required radiation treatments five days a week, she was referred to the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge, a home-away-from-home for out-of-town cancer patients receiving treatment in Grand Rapids. The Hope Lodge is where she later met Elizabeth Bailey.
Elizabeth came to stay at the Hope Lodge after also being diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer. In late September 2009, Elizabeth and Patti shared their stories with StoryCorps. Click here to listen to a portion of their StoryCorps interview.
For Elizabeth and Patti, the Hope Lodge was a safe-haven during their cancer journey that removed a tremendous financial barrier to treatment and recovery. Neither had health insurance, and Patti would have been forced to drive three hours each day, five days a week, for her treatments. Elizabeth, who lives forty minutes north of Grand Rapids, was planning to sleep on the floor of her mother’s retirement home while in Grand Rapids for treatment before she heard of the Hope Lodge.
“The Hope Lodge is warm, friendly, and inspiring,” Patti said. “It’s my home away from home, and I don’t know what I would have done without it.
“In fact,” Patti added, “I don't know what I would have done without God. He has given me the strength to go forward with my life and the courage to share with others.”
While at the Hope Lodge, Patti and Elizabeth formed a close friendship - and together, the two women brought peace and comfort to others. Both attribute the Hope Lodge to helping them maintain a sense of peace and hope during their difficult journeys.
“It’s a good, safe place to be,” Bailey said. “When you’re already stressed during treatment, Hope Lodge is a true Godsend.”
For more information on the Breast and Cancer Cervical Control program, click here.
For more information on the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge, click here.
For more information on the StoryCorps program, visit www.StoryCorps.org.
Pictured: (L to R) Patti Esch and Elizabeth Bailey
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