having a foreign device go up their behind,” Dr. Gray said. “ There’s also the issue of having no insurance coverage to pay for the screenings or treatments needed if they’re diagnosed.”
Phalon Ervin can attest to this. The 37-year-old single mother self-diagnosed her painful bowel and stomach symptoms as colorectal cancer when she was just 28 but didn’t seek treatment because she had no insurance coverage.
“I was experiencing all of the big symptoms of the cancer: bloating, fatigue, rectal bleeding, involuntary weight loss and stool changes,” she said. “After a quick Google search, I knew I had colorectal cancer.”
As a new college graduate, a mother and temp worker, she said she was more concerned about spending as much time with her child as she could instead of seeking time-consuming treatments and racking up medical debt.
“Looking back, I actually can’t believe that this was my pattern of thinking, but I had no money and no viable job options, nevertheless insurance; I knew that