Blessing to Have Care Close to Home

350 Cheryl Ford copy

Miles City, MT - Cheryl Ford and her husband Henry retired to peaceful Terry, Montana from a rowdy California city a year ago. When she came to Holy Rosary Healthcare for her routine annual mammogram earlier this year, a radiologist found an area of concern that he wanted to compare to Ford’s previous scans. In the meantime, she also discovered a lump in her breast. Fords’s care team ordered an ultrasound and recommended that she have a biopsy, after reviewing the results. In May 2021, Cheryl was diagnosed with stage 1 triple-negative breast cancer.

After the diagnosis, Ford met with Jenille Brugger, a cancer patient nurse navigator at Holy Rosary to learn more about her diagnosis and to help her with the next steps in her treatment. Brugger walked her through the whirlwind journey over the next weeks and months in a way that allowed her to feel more comfortable. Ford shared, “Jenille was amazing to have on my team.”

For her treatment plan, Cheryl proceeded with a lumpectomy in June and removal of 15 lymph nodes, and a port placement for chemotherapy in July under the care of Dr. Imudia Ehanire.

“She was so very considerate and explained everything so well,” said Ford, “Dr. E even took the time to teach my husband how to clean my wound area properly and when we returned for an appointment gave him kudos for how clean the area was. This meant so much to me.”

Throughout her treatment she also had regular appointments with her Primary Care Provider, Kara Erickson, PA. “She is so thorough and takes time to listen and gives many suggestions.”

Ford is grateful that to this point that she has been able to access and receive her care in the local community.

“It has been a great blessing that I’ve been able to do all of my care in Miles City, so close to home. I don’t think I would have made it with a lot of traveling,” said Ford. “I feel like I’ve had the best care by a wonderful team at Holy Rosary Healthcare.”

For her on-going treatment, she was able to use tele-health services at Holy Rosary to meet regularly with Dr. Patrik Cobb, her oncologist. She also received her chemotherapy treatments at Holy Rosary. “The Outpatient Infusion team is amazing and makes you feel like you are a part of their family,” she said. “They truly care about each and every patient.”

She just recently took her last chemo treatment and will now travel to Billings for her radiation treatments.