"My husband and I sincerely thank our ITA care manager, Linda, for her competent and compassionate care during these stressful times. Linda brilliantly manages the relationship between us, the cancer center, and our insurance company. She negotiates coverage on our behalf and is a valuable source of information and support. We will always be grateful."
-- BR, wife of head and neck cancer patient in Texas, October 2008
"My ITA nurse is my guardian angel and has helped me through so much of the unknown with insurance, side effects, and all the new types of treatments that I am receiving. She has pushed through so many procedures in a fast manner in order to help get the best care. Also, she and her fellow members at ITA have pushed the elimination some of my co-pays on medication by working closely with my insurance. I thank God for the services that ITA offers its cancer patients."
-- BS, breast cancer patient in California, September 2008
"Leslie, my ITA nurse, is great, wonderful. I love her. When she calls me, I jump in, telling her ‘This is what I'm feeling. Is it right? Is it wrong? What should I do?’ No other medical staff members do that for me. Leslie even talks with my husband when he has questions; she helps him a lot. She helps me keep a positive attitude, and talks about what I might be able to try next. She keeps my spirits up."
-- C.B., melanoma patient in Nebraska with metastases to the brain, September 2008
"My wife was having very strong chemotherapy and getting very sick … When we were linked with ITA Partners and I spoke to Ashlee, our ITA nurse, she said ‘Don't worry, we have doctors here who are experts in chemotherapy. We’ll review the treatment and get back to you.’ She did, and she told me the chemo was very strong, had too many side effects, and that the ITA doctors didn’t recommend that kind of chemo. A few days later, the hospital said my wife’s chemo wasn't right and should be stopped. I told my wife, ‘These [ITA] people really know what they're doing!’ Then her chemotherapy was changed. Whenever things aren’t going smoothly, Ashlee is on our side. Even my wife’s nurse at the hospital said, ‘I wish all patients had someone like ITA.’ ”
-- MFC, husband of a Non-Hodgkins lymphoma patient in Texas, September 2008
"Last week, I was sobbing when Lisa, my ITA nurse, called. I told her everything … I’m a nurse, too, but with the cancer, I haven’t been able to work. I’m a single mom. I had to move; I had to sell my furniture to feed my children. Lisa has made my chemo so much easier by getting this one anti-nausea drug approved for free. She’s making calls for me, to start getting financial help. I wish I could express how deep my gratitude is to her. At my doctor’s office, they said they’ve never seen a case manager who’s worked as hard for a patient as Lisa does for me.”
-- RL, lymphoma patient in Oklahoma, September 2008
"Mary Ann, my ITA nurse, is a saint. She made this process much more tolerable than it would have been without her. She stepped up and arranged things and answered questions that absolutely had to be answered. I made the mistake of refusing a feeding tube early in the process. During my 20th treatment, I became debilitated to the point where they couldn't give me a feeding tube. The oncologist said I needed to tough it out. But Mary Ann made it happen, and made it so I could get a TPN tube for nourishment. Mary Ann has been a huge part of the equation for me."
-- MP, tongue cancer patient in Virginia, August 2008
"When you're under pressure from a cancer diagnosis, you can't think. Alice checked in on us. She helped us think and stay on top of things. She found solutions, resources and information for us. She did a lot of work with the doctors and the clinic, and that's very difficult and very time-consuming. Alice hung in there and stayed with us the entire way."
-- PG, sister of a lung cancer patient in Mississippi, August 2008
"When ITA gets involved, it's like a new family comes into your life! No matter why I called, our ITA nurse always helped. She got information for us about doctors and hospitals, so "Henry" could get the treatment he needed. She made sure I understood everything, and if I didn't understand, she'd review it with me and help me figure out what I needed to do. She cared — so much that she even prompted me to get a mammogram, and I wasn't even her patient!"
-- EE, friend of a prostate cancer patient in South Carolina, July 2008
"Thank you, ITA, for guiding me through this incredible maze of health questions, insurance questions, negotiation and support. Having someone to go to for everything I might need an answer to was so very comforting. Although breast cancer is not what any of us would choose to deal with, the bills and fear of losing everything you've worked your entire life for is just as devastating. Your assistance took that fear from me."
-- DW, breast cancer patient in Florida, July 2008
"My ITA nurse has been there with me through everything. She tells me how things work, and what to expect. She knows the latest in treatment advances. She talks to people on my behalf — the insurance company, the doctors, the hospitals. I can call her at any time, and she keeps it all straight for me. She even helped convince one of my hospitals to write off part of my bill. She's a real fighter, and she's in my corner."
-- DB, melanoma and brain tumor patient from Michigan, June 2008
"Having ITA Partners back up the patient's story made the difference. Normally, we only write off bills for patients from our local community, and this patient lives four hours away. But ITA affirmed his extenuating circumstances and validated his situation. It was the right thing for us to do."
-- Community Care Coordinator at DB's hospital
"My ITA nurse knows so much, and I'm glad she keeps calling to check on me. She makes herself available to my husband and to my family, as well, and that's important.
I'll never forget the first couple of times I talked with her. My instinct was, 'This is way too good to be true.' So, I had my brother check it out. He used to run a medical clinic. He and his friends and peers checked it out. Their response was positive. Since then, we've decided this is very real. And we feel so grateful.
My son was skeptical. He said, 'The insurance company hired ITA? There's no way this is all for your benefit, Mom.' Now, he's switched to our insurer.
I asked my medical team at Ohio State what they thought of ITA. Their response was, 'From what we're seeing, they're a wonderful service to have.' My ITA nurse talks with them, too. I can't tell you the confidence it gives me to see all these people working together on my behalf.
We don't know for sure what treatment I'll use yet, but my ITA nurse has reviewed several possibilities with me that the doctors mentioned. Next time I go to the doctor, we'll be closer to making a decision. I'll tell them I want to wait a bit, so I can go home and talk to my ITA nurse about it."
-- JA, leukemia patient from Indiana, June 2008
"I don't know how many stars I can put by my ITA nurse's name, but she's a Godsend. An angel. We were chasing our tails, because the insurance company was saying the hospital, the urologist, and the oncologist were all out of network. My ITA nurse got busy and talked with them all, making arrangements for it to be covered in network. You all have saved us tens of thousands of dollars, and we don't have that kind of money just lying around. Is ITA a valuable service? Is 'heck yes' an acceptable answer?"
-- MH, prostate cancer patient from Georgia, June 2008
"My ITA nurse answers questions that didn't get explained clearly by my doctor. I can just talk to her more easily, and she uses terms I can understand."
-- BV, breast cancer patient from Texas, June 2008
"I can't say enough about our ITA nurse. You can't imagine how much she's helped me, with insurance, with my husband's medications, with knowing how to help my husband get the care he needs. She's encouraged me a lot, communicating via phone and via email because I work and get home late at night. She is awesome -- absolutely out of this world."
-- NL, wife of lung cancer patient from Indiana, June 2008
"I've got my ITA nurse on a pedestal, because she understands what I'm going through. She helps me understand the chemotherapy side effects, and she's doing remarkable work with my bills. This is the first time in my life I've heard of a company like ITA. You get out there and put on the big gloves. You fight for me. I want to thank each and every one of you. Even though you're all across the country, you're right here with me. You take the stress out of being stressed."
--EL, breast cancer patient in California, March 2008
"I would definitely refer anyone with cancer to ITA. Megan, my wife's oncology nurse, has been a godsend. She talks with our doctors and fills in the blanks for us on what they're saying and what we can expect next. I feel like we have an advocate on our side. She also helps with the insurance company and the business side of medicine. We came into this not knowing we were under-insured. I don't know what we'd do without ITA."
-- WK, husband of an inflammatory breast cancer patient in Texas, March 2008
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