Patty Loew:
In our next report, putting words to paper can be a form of therapy. For Patty Boehlke, it helped her cope with cancer, as she reflected on places that brought her so much happiness at a time she felt so much pain. She found help in the form of a patient advocate that helped her work through insurance questions. Producer Laurie Gorman chronicles the emotional journey of one woman from Baraboo who found her voice in the struggle she faced.

Narrator:
This glen and its path, they=re a likeness to life, as it begs this visitor's upsweeping glance. No worry to watch my step right now. I need to risk leaving this trail to chance.

Laurie Gorman:
Patty Boehlke wrote those words to describe one of her favorite places: Parfrey's Glen near Baraboo, A place she wandered many times. Her own story began to take a different path three years ago.

Patty Boehlke:
We were just taking something over to Ashley's dorm room and she called me on my cell phone, the doctor did and said we found a three centimeter brain mass on the MRI. And within about ten minutes we had to go over to Ashley's dorm room and drop off some of the stuff from Menard's. Had to walk in her dorm room knowing that and I didn't say I couldn't say anything. I couldn't say a thing because it was her first day at school, at college. She was just moving in. So we did everything, got her all set up, loaded her up, moved her in, said goodbye, left and went home and she didn't know anything was going on that day. It was a tough day. It was probably the toughest day. So that was hard. But, you know, that's the kind of stuff you deal with.


Laurie Gorman:
She has dealt with a lot since that diagnosis of brain cancer in the fall of 2005 and, as expected, her path was a tough one. The initial course of treatment included brain surgery and chemotherapy, but the cancer returned within a few months.

Patty Boehlke:
That was probably one of the scariest was the first time you're thinking oh yeah, I feel good, I can beat this, I'm doing great. I feel fine. I'm on treatment. But then when it comes back that fast and you are thinking Awow, you know, okay. The first stuff didn't work, now what?@ You know? And where do you go from here, you know? I was feeling a little unsure about my current treatment, doctors, what they were suggesting, you know? And I thought I need to do something different because obviously the first stuff didn't work so we need to look somewhere else.

Laurie Gorman:
Looking somewhere else for Boehlke meant seeking a second opinion from a specialist outside her own HMO. Her request was denied.

Patty Boehlke:
It was totally devastating and we were just like, you know, hands in the air, what do we do now and where do we go?

Patty Boehlke:
Mapping out how to do the radiation, how to do the surgery.

Laurie Gorman:
Through the intervention of her surgeon, Boehlke was able to get the needed approval and saw the specialist.

Patty Boehlke:
We started talking about clinical trials and options, thinking-out-of-the-box kind of options, you know? And that's, you know, when all of a sudden hope started to enter the picture again.

Narrator:
A calming breeze just wraps me up as Aspen speak with rustling shine. I've opened a door to a canvas of God for what seems like a normal trek. But for me, I feel life changes this time.

Laurie Gorman:
The drugs from the clinical trial kept the tumors at bay for nearly a year but they returned for a third and then a fourth time.

Patty Boehlke:
At this point after four surgeries, the neurosurgeon is just not real comfortable going in a fifth time. Not to say that he wouldn't if I wouldn't have pressed him that way, but we wanted to see about other options.

Laurie Gorman:
Those other options included stereotactic radiosurgery, a highly precise form of radiation therapy using high focus x rays. This non-invasive outpatient procedure required another referral and for the second time a denial from the HMO.

Patty Boehlke:
I'll do whatever I need to but, you know, the insurance company has the last say in everything and obviously we don't have a million dollars or $500,000 to pay for a stereotactic radiosurgery. I've got things growing inside my head and I really don't want to waste a lot of time and we don't really have a lot of time to waste anyway. We want to get it over with.

Laurie Gorman:
Once again, Boehlke appealed the denial all from her insurance company while her aggressive cancer progressed. The approval came through but the process made her angry and discouraged.

Patty Boehlke:
They could have done it differently, you know? They could have approved it right away and they could have given me a little bit more peace of mind.

Laurie Gorman:
Boehlke's battle with the insurance company and her desire to have more of a say in her own healthcare inspired her to share her story.

Patty Boehlke:
Getting through the end of it and finding out that, you know, I had a voice and I could use that and I knew people that I could go to to help me was real empowering, you know? It really it made me want to do that even more.

Laurie Gorman:
Patti Boehlke found her voice not only through her health struggles but through her poetry. Her poem about Parfrey's Glen was written shortly after her cancer diagnosis. Patty passed away on December 21st, 2008.

Narrator:
I've chosen life paths that are comfy and safe but now life is unsure because I can't see the summit. This glen is like life and it anchors my view of the grace I've been given and the blessings from it.

Patty Loew:

Following her death in December, Patty's husband encouraged us to tell her story, to share her poems, to remember her. We first met Patty last fall as we prepared a series of stories about the Center for Patient Partnerships at the UW Madison law school. It provides advocacy services for people facing chronic or life threatening illness.