"In my family, there's always some sort of sickness. Cancer took my dad, grandfather and aunt, all of whom had high blood pressure, and my mom also had high blood pressure along with diabetes," shared Judith. Judith is a woman who loves and takes care of her family. When her husband had a stroke, she nursed him back to health. One of her children is incarcerated and Judith continues to love and offer support to him as much as possible. She cares with such devotion for others, but when asked how she had previously cared for her own self when she got ill, Judith replied, "I would deal with sickness on my own. I would rather have not gone to the emergency room, but if it got really bad, I would go." It is known that emergency room visits can rack up a huge bill for any patient, much less one without insurance. "It was ok, going to the ER," added Judith, "but it is a big, big bill."
Before she lost the insurance she held through a prior job, Judith was being seen for a stomach ulcer and anemia. For years this went untreated - until she found Alliance. Five years ago, a friend of Judith's introduced her to Alliance, describing it as an organization where people just like her, honest workers who unfortunately are not provided with insurance, can have a medical home. "Alliance is the best thing that could have happened to me. They treat you really nice here," she remarked. Judith was experiencing a severe pain in her knee for years before being examined by Dr. Watson, her doctor at Alliance. Dr. Watson ordered an MRI for her knee, which eventually led to a hip replacement. As it turns out, her knee was not the root of her pain at all. "I would probably still be hurting if I never became a patient here at Alliance," explained Judith. "Alliance helps tremendously." She appreciates the honesty of her doctor, saying, "He tells me what's what and gets straight to the point. If he needs to, he even gives me a call to let me know what's going on." She also appreciates the warmth from the Alliance staff, "The nurses and everyone, really - they are always so nice!"
Judith revealed that she feels so blessed to have been able to find a place like Alliance to help her when she needed it. If she could tell others out there one thing about Alliance, it'd be to "give back and show them that you care about what they do here. I don't have time myself, but I wish I had time to volunteer at Alliance. They've always been good to me. I want to do good for them return."