Yoselin's Story: Part 3
Over the last 2 weeks, we introduced Yoselin, one of our patients and a fierce advocate for her community. Click to read Part 1 and Part 2 or continue reading her story below.
Some time after Yoselin had her first son, during a regular checkup at Cahaba Medical Care, she found out she would need to have her gallbladder removed. At first, she was worried. She didn’t have health insurance and knew this could be a very expensive procedure. But Cahaba was able to partner with Project Access, which helps connect uninsured patients to affordable specialty care, and Yoselin received the surgery she needed.
Flash forward to present day, Yoselin now works as the only bilingual staff member of Project Access in Birmingham. She spends her days helping men, women, and children from Birmingham and other parts of the world navigate the complicated world of healthcare and get the specialty care, procedures, and surgeries they need.
Like many others who work in healthcare, Yoselin is compassionate, resilient, and humble. She knows that in some ways, she has had a hard life, but, she humbly tells me, “There are others that have suffered more than I have.”
It is from this perspective that Yoselin lives her life. Even when money is tight at home, she still makes sure her neighbors have something to give their children on Christmas morning. Many of them depend on her to help fill out important paperwork, like school registration and food stamp applications, since she is fluent in English. One neighbor knew she could count on Yoselin when she needed help getting a plane ticket home to visit her dying father. Even when Yoselin has little time for herself, she makes time to bring meals to the nurses who take care of her mother, who needs kidney dialysis three times per week and whom Yoselin visits every weekend.
Yoselin is a mother, a wife, a sister, an immigrant, a DACA Dreamer, an advocate, a friend and helper to all. Like many of our patients, she wears many hats and works hard to care for those she loves. Cahaba Medical Care is honored to provide high quality healthcare to Yoselin and many patients like her: Hardworking. Compassionate. Resilient. Humble. Strong. In pursuit of health and wellbeing, with her Cahaba Medical Care healthcare team alongside her.
I asked Yoselin if, as a patient and healthcare worker, she had any advice to give to our readers. She encourages anyone reading this to schedule a yearly checkup. “You might have a headache, so you take a pill. But you never know if behind that headache is something else. So you wait until you’re dying, and you go to the emergency room. So personally I would say, as a Latina, I've lived it. Get a checkup once a year. You never know what’s behind a headache. Get checked, and if you’re fine, great!”
We agree with Yoselin: “Go, get checked, and follow your doc’s advice.”
Is it time for your next checkup? We’re glad you’ve chosen to make Cahaba Medical Care the home for all your healthcare needs and allow us to walk alongside you in your journey to better health. Give us a call at (877) 926-2992 to schedule an appointment!
Would you like to help Cahaba continue to provide care to hardworking families like Yoselin’s? Visit cahabamedicalcare.com/donate to be part of Cahaba Medical Care’s mission to provide high quality, affordable healthcare to anyone that needs it.