BILLINGS — Wanting a change, Julie Petty and her youngest daughter moved to Billings from California in October 2021. She never expected her new chapter would involve a breast cancer diagnosis.
She went in for her yearly mammogram after turning 50 shortly after arriving in Billings, but doctors found something they wanted to double-check.
“It is a blur,” Petty said recently.
From the initial diagnosis to chemotherapy and radiation, Petty said it all happened fast.
“It's so overwhelming the amount of information you get,” she said. “You're already scared and nervous, and you don't know if you're making the right decisions. So, that is something that I would tell other women is be very careful on who you ask for advice and who you listen to.”
Petty had no family with her aside from her young daughter, who wasn't able to drive at the time. But with the help of her coworkers and the staff at the St. Vincent Regional Hospital Cancer Center, she survived her disease.
"My PET scan was January, two years ago. Well, this coming January will be two years. That didn't show anything so yes, in remission," Petty said.
Petty's first nurse during her treatments at the cancer center was Amber Miller.
"Julie (Petty) was extra scared, extra anxious and she had just moved here. She was super nervous about her treatment," Miller said. “People get this diagnosis and it's a slap in the face, but it's not, your life doesn't stop when you get a cancer diagnosis."
Petty worked full-time through her treatments, although she does joke that she wasn't sure how much work she actually got done during the time. It was still positive for her to continue living through the battle.
"There are a lot of patients who work full time, and there are a lot of patients who enjoy life," Miller said. "It's not picture perfect, but they are doing just so much still. And really, it's not a full stop. It's not that you're sick every day. And they're still living life to the fullest, even through kind of this tumultuous time that they're going through."
While life may not stop for many, there are still plenty of barriers patients face when battling cancer, including overwhelming information from providers and finding the right care.
"It's a large state. So, transportation issues are a reality, especially in the winter months where we can have roads that are nasty. And it can be difficult to come in to receive your treatment. Those are one of our biggest barriers," St. Vincent Medical oncologist Dr. Troy Fiddler said. "Over the last several years, there's been a lot of advancement in the treatment of breast cancer and cancer in general."
There's also the looming thought of taking on debt just to survive. According to the American Cancer Society, nearly half of all cancer patients take on medical debt during their treatments.
Medicaid can cover the costs of preventative screenings to actual care, but for 90,000 Montanans, that was no longer an option earlier this year after the state re-examined its determination for Medicaid eligibility.
"In April of last year, the state could start reassessing people's eligibility. So, that meant that the number of people who were receiving Medicaid over the past year has dropped drastically from 320,000 Montanans to now there's about 230,000," said Jackie Semmens, a policy analyst for Montana Budget and Policy Center. "Medicaid can really help prevent financial devastation for someone who gets something like a cancer diagnosis that can cost tens of thousands of dollars. It's likely that there could go into debt trying to access their treatment or worse have to ration treatment and not be able to get the full amount of treatment they need."
“Over 2,000 people on traditional Medicaid were able to get a screening in the last year and 5,700 people on expanded Medicaid were able to get a screening,” Semmens said. “The Legislature will need to vote on if it wants to retain eligibility for over 80,000 Montanans who are on expanded Medicaid. So that's the next big challenge of the healthcare system is going to face.”
