Published: October 03, 2008 06:31 pm            

JAYSON LARSON: In the face of terminal illness, hope

Barbara Walker is a sick woman. There’s no easy way to say it: she’s terminally ill, looking to the heavens for divine intervention.

You might remember Barbara. Three years ago, as the mighty and cruel Hurricane Katrina pulled a blanket of stagnant water over New Orleans, Barbara and her family — husband, Lee, son, Albert, and her daughter, Lee Ann and her toddler son, Charles — fled.

That day, Aug. 29, 2005, was Barbara’s birthday. The coming days would bring a temporary separation from some of her family as they were broken apart to travel into Texas by bus and live in camps set up for evacuees. Lee, who was suffering from cancer, was finally reunited with the family after several weeks.

Setting up a new life in Athens was a frustrating endeavor for the Walkers. They struggled to pay their bills and suffered a number of personal setbacks which, it would suffice to say, cut deep. The bottom line? Athens wasn’t home, but for the Walkers, they had no home left in Louisiana.

So this is the part of the column where I’d love to tell you things worked out, that after three years, the Walkers’ situation is starting to look up. But that just hasn’t been the case.

The cancer in Lee’s esophagus finally took his life last December. The disability income he received was gone, too. That left Barbara as the sole caretaker and provider for Albert, who is disabled and essentially unable to work, and for Charles.

At one point, Barbara had a good job at a local fast food restaurant. But the demands of getting Charles to pre-K and then trying to see that Lee was getting continued cancer treatments left her juggling with too many balls in the air. She was soon without a job.

Then in August, a half a year after Lee’s death, Barbara began to have severe stomach pain. During a trip to the emergency room, doctors diagnosed her with pancreatic cancer.

The cancer’s invasion of Barbara’s liver left her skin a pale yellow. Doctors said it is inoperable.

The coming weeks brought frustrating challenges.

Francyse Hamilton, a member of the First Christian Church of Athens — which has been offering various kinds of aid for the Walkers since they arrived — began trying to help Barbara answer some very basic and frightening questions: Who will pay the medical bills when Barbara has no job and no health coverage? Who will drive her to a succession of exhaustive trips to doctors and specialists around town and as far away as Tyler?

Frankly, neither she nor Barbara really knew where to start.

Francyse spent countless hours trying to fill the gaps created by the family’s financial situation. In phone call after phone call, Francyse tried to find out who could help. And what did she get for her efforts? Few answers, and at times, the runaround.

But recently, Francyse said she had caught a break. By simply dialing 2-1-1 — which she saw in an Ann Landers newspaper column — doors were opened that hadn’t been there before.

By calling 2-1-1, Francyse gained access to what she had been looking for — namely, a clearinghouse of information to answer some of those questions.

The report Thursday was much better. An upbeat Francyse reported Barbara is now set to receive disability benefits — thanks to officials at East Texas Medical Center Tyler, who started the process. In January, she should begin receiving widow’s benefits, and Medicaid is now in place to help take care of medical and prescription costs.

“(2-1-1) gave me a whole page of people and places to call and help Barbara,” Francyse said. “The lady I talked to was so helpful. We talked for 30 minutes.”

Literally weeks of trying to wrestle through governmental red tape are hopefully over for Barbara and those who’ve helped her along. God knows it’s already been hard enough.

Now all that’s left is the healing, and the living. There’s still plenty of time for both.

And that divine intervention? There’s only one they can do about that.

Believe.

Jayson Larson is editor of the Athens Review. Dial 2-1-1 to contact that service, or log on to www.211.org. The following number can be used for Henderson County and the surrounding area: 800-548-1873 or 903-534-9977.

        

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