A passion for local healthcare options

I’ve been overwhelmed with the prayers offered up for my mom and her recent battle with cancer. Your letters, emails and calls are a strong reminder of the friendships I’ve been blessed with over the past few years of serving Senate District 43. 

Working in healthcare for over 15 years has made me passionate for providing quality healthcare options to rural Oklahomans. Additionally, growing up in a household with a physician for a father has played a large part in my desire to ensure Oklahomans have access to services, no matter where they live. It wasn’t until my mom’s diagnosis that I truly understood the desperation one feels when resources aren’t available or aren’t accessible immediately. 

The day she was diagnosed, my dad handed my sister and me informational packets, answered our questions, gave us the plan moving forward, and told us the worst thing we could do would be to “Google” it. Naturally, that’s the first thing I did but I should have listened. As I read the possible outcomes and statistics about how Merkle Cell Carcinoma is one of the most rare and aggressive forms of skin cancer, I felt like the life was being sucked out of me. 

Although I’m a lot like my dad, a mix of stern and sentimental, I wouldn’t be who I am today without characteristics from my mother—determined, strong-willed, stubborn, and persistent. It surprises people when I say my mom is all those things, because she is also one of the most generous, forgiving, compassionate, and caring women anyone will ever meet, but the truth is, even with her heart of gold, gentle spirit, and loving demeanor, you do NOT want to be on her bad side. I knew quitting wouldn’t be an option for her.

We’ve been blessed to have an amazing team surrounding our family. Dr. John McGath with Duncan Regional Hospital is who first found the cancer and because of him and his staff, she was seen at OU Health’s Stephenson Cancer Center within a few days. Oklahoma is fortunate to have the most comprehensive oncology practice right in the heart of our state, Oklahoma City, providing Oklahomans a centralized location to receive cancer treatment. Additionally, Stephenson Cancer Center ranks No. 1 among all cancer centers nationwide for the number of people participating in National Cancer Institute-sponsored clinical trials, giving patients quicker access to new technologies and new treatment options. 

Everyone who helped us at both hospital systems will always hold a special place in our hearts, along with Dr. Matthew McKeever and the team at Duncan’s Southwest Cancer Center, who administered her treatment locally. Being a rural patient, if mom wouldn’t have had this option, she would have either needed a temporary place to live in OKC for six weeks or would have been driving back and forth daily. More than ever, I see that access for all Oklahomans is imperative. It’s truly a matter of life or death in certain circumstances.

In addition to the medical team, our family has never been alone on this journey. Our family and friends, our church family, our community, her coworkers, and everyone who has been praying and will continue to pray for her have been a source of strength and comfort to her and our entire family. This journey has reignited my passion for helping to recruit and retain providers into rural Oklahoma and it’s a responsibility I take very seriously. I look forward to working on legislation this coming session to improve access for families in SD43 and throughout our state.

If you have any questions or concerns on legislative matters, please email me at Jessica.Garvin@oksenate.gov or call (405) 521-5522.