The Appointment That Changed Everything
Or how insurance—yes, insurance—quietly saved my life
I’ve always understood the value of insurance.
That probably comes from being the daughter of a woman who ran her own insurance agency. I grew up around policies, knowing insurance wasn’t just a nice-to-have—it was protection.
But I never expected it to play such a personal, life-changing role in my own story.
A year ago, my gynecologist stopped taking my insurance. I’d switched before when we moved from NYC to NJ.
At first, it felt like a minor inconvenience.
At this point, I thought I was a pretty low-maintenance patient.
Once a year, in and out.
So, I did what most of us do: I asked for a few recommendations from my internist and booked an appointment with the first doctor who had availability and accepted my plan.
That decision—based on nothing more than scheduling and insurance—changed everything.
The new doctor was Dr. Luisi-Purdue.
I had already gotten a routine mammogram and ultrasound script from my internist.
Went for the imaging and everything came back all clear.
But during my appointment, Dr. Luisi-Purdue did a manual breast exam and found a lump that the imaging hadn’t caught.
That moment—one I almost didn’t even have if my old doctor still took my insurance—is what led to my breast cancer diagnosis.
Now, who’s to say what would’ve happened with a different doctor?
Maybe it would’ve been caught later, maybe not at all.
But this is how it happened.
And I’ll always be grateful that the plan I had led me to the right person at the right time.
But here’s where it gets even more layered.
After my diagnosis, I chose to get my treatment at Sloan.
I checked that they accepted my United Healthcare plan. I spoke to the insurance company, asked all the questions, made sure my bases were covered. Once I met my deductible, everything would be in-network, and I’d only be responsible for possible co-pays and prescriptions.
And then… the portal messages started.
Sloan was in negotiations with my insurance company.
My care team might no longer be in-network.
There were forms to fill out—continuity of care paperwork—plus a looming deadline and a lot of uncertainty right before another surgery.
The mental energy it took to manage that part of the process, on top of everything else, was a lot.
In the end, Sloan and United Healthcare came to an agreement just after the deadline—and my coverage continued.
But it was a reminder of something people don’t always talk about: how much navigating the system becomes part of the medical journey, even when you have insurance.
So yes, I’m grateful.
For Dr. Luisi-Purdue. For Sloan. For having coverage.
For a system that, while far from perfect, led me to the right people at the right time.
It’s a strange thing to realize—that a change in provider, driven entirely by insurance, is what helped me catch something early.
That the very thing that opened the door could’ve also, just as easily, made it all more complicated.
But that’s the reality many of us are living with.
And for me, it’s now part of the story I carry with me.