近距离内射合集

LAS CRUCES 鈥� Gloria Gameros first noticed the lump during a trip to Washington, D.C., in February.

Two thousand miles away from home at a legislative conference, Gameros 鈥� a Do帽a Ana County commissioner elected in 2024 鈥� called her doctor to report an egg-sized mass in her breast. After coming home and visiting her provider, she was referred for an ultrasound and mammogram.

Four months later, Gameros publicly announced that she has breast cancer during a county commissioners鈥� meeting. She used the revelation to spotlight the obstacles she experienced getting a diagnosis and care in New Mexico鈥檚 second-most populous county, despite having health insurance through the Affordable Care Act health insurance exchange.

鈥淩eceiving cancer care in Do帽a Ana County can be difficult,鈥� Gameros said at the meeting. 鈥淚 experienced long waiting periods in obtaining diagnostic testing due to scheduling and the non-acceptance of my marketplace health insurance. I also had issues with imaging and hospital facilities, oncologists and surgeons also not taking my insurance.鈥�

It led her to wonder, she said, 鈥淲hat about 鈥� the uninsured? What happens to them? Do we let them suffer and die?鈥�

In an interview at her office in Las Cruces, Gameros elaborated on a process requiring zealous self-advocacy and trips across the Texas state line in the face of a shortage of providers, high demand for services and barriers erected by the private health insurance system.

Her insurance provider gave her a list of providers in their network. Yet Gameros said she called more than a dozen, only for each one to tell her they did not accept her insurance. She later found a provider who took her insurance but wasn鈥檛 on that list.

She was initially denied a diagnostic mammogram because of the way the order was written, sending her back to her physician and costing more time. The imaging exams, biopsy and follow-up appointments spanned weeks per step.

By the time she got her result in May, Gameros said she had kept the lump a secret from her family and the county for three months.

鈥淚n my family, I'm the one that does everything,鈥� Gameros said. 鈥淚'm the one that figures out everything for my parents, for my brothers. That's just the way I am because I'm the oldest child, and so for me it was very hard to come out and let people know.鈥�

Meanwhile, as a full-time commissioner, she was working with the county manager and staff on the county鈥檚 indigent program, which aims to provide care to eligible uninsured residents. Gameros said the meetings became a struggle for her as she navigated 鈥渢he limbo stage,鈥� waiting for her own diagnosis in secret and seeing how county patients were struggling to access care.

鈥楳ammo to Answers鈥�

Marci Dickerson, a breast cancer survivor, co-founded Cancer Warriors Las Cruces with a group of women in 2023. She told the Journal she has assisted patients who have waited up to half a year for a diagnosis.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 absolutely gut-wrenching; it鈥檚 horrible,鈥� Dickerson told the Journal. Stories of referrals, appointments and insurance approvals stretching from three to six months inspired Cancer Warriors to propose in 2024 called Mammo to Answers.

The program sets up appointments in advance to expedite the scheduling process and try to get patients from mammogram to diagnosis within 21 days, with funding from the nonprofit.

Gameros, who resides in Anthony, said she was unaware of the program.

Cancer Warriors also reaches out to primary care providers about writing orders for diagnostic imaging to avoid some of the 鈥渂ack and forth with referrals and insurance clearance,鈥� similar to what Gameros experienced.

Demanding care for all

For some patients, obstacles to indigent care are more intractable despite provisions made in the past. As Gameros heard from cancer patients about their experiences while harboring her secret, she said the pressure prompted tears during meetings.

Now, Gameros said she is steeling herself for long drives to Albuquerque for surgery, post-op care and whatever treatment regimen follows.

鈥淚'm going to have to change the way I'm working, but I still want to work,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 still want to provide my constituents what they need and what they deserve to have.鈥�

At her announcement, Gameros called on legislators and local leaders to work for 鈥渁 cancer care facility that is accepting of all insurances and a program to help uninsured individuals, with coordinated care among all providers and facilities that the individual needs in order to survive this disease.鈥�

Memorial Medical Center, a for-profit hospital operated by Lifepoint Health, agreed to provide services for indigent patients under the terms of a 2004 lease with the county and the city of Las Cruces. The hospital has come under scrutiny in recent years for alleged violations of those lease terms, leading up to a lawsuit filed earlier this year by the city and county.

Documents unearthed by local cancer patient advocate Yoli Diaz appeared to show that Memorial dropped cancer care and some other expensive specialty services for indigent patients a decade ago. Patients have complained of being turned away because they could not pay.

Memorial Medical Center maintains it has honored its lease terms and is 鈥渨orking in good faith to address the questions and concerns鈥� regarding its commitments.

Following Gameros鈥� announcement of her diagnosis, Diaz 鈥� a cancer survivor and founder of the nonprofit Cancer Aid Resource and Education, or CARE 鈥� said, 鈥淐ancer does not care who we are. It does not care about titles, professionals, positions, politics or opinions. It simply arrives, and when it does, people need timely access to care, support and hope.鈥�

Algernon 顿鈥橝尘尘补蝉蝉补 is the Journal鈥檚 southern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at adammassa@abqjournal.com.