Generosity Leaves Sara Speechless

Like most 40-year-old women, Sara Bell had never had a mammogram. In fall 2013, she experienced breast pain. At first, Sara, a financial service representative at Beacon Health Ventures, tried to ignore the pain, thinking that it was nothing serious and that it would subside, but in fact it worsened.

Sara scheduled an appointment with a physician, which set off a chain reaction of tests and more appointments, all which resulted in the diagnosis of breast cancer on Nov. 8, 2013. Just days before her double mastectomy at Memorial, her colleagues overwhelmed their coworker and friend with a surprise of huge proportions: restaurant gift cards, prepared meals, groceries and a monetary gift. It left Sara speechless.

“I didn’t even know them that long and for them to do that, it touched me. Saying, ‘Thank you’ didn’t seem like enough,” says Sara.

And the kindness didn’t stop there. Since Sara was a fairly new associate (November 2012), she hadn’t accrued a lot of vacation or sick time, which left her exhausting all of this time during recovery. This resulted in Sara and her family facing unpaid time off. The accounting department took up a “collection” of benefit time and donated 88 hours of benefit time to make sure Sara never had to go through the added stress of financial hardship.

The acts of generosity on behalf of one of their own have come easy to the compassionate accounting department at Beacon Health Ventures.

“Most of our department is women about Sara’s age,” says Gretchen Manning, CPA, Manager of Finance. “So, maybe that is why there has been such an outpouring of support—we can all picture ourselves in her shoes. My attitude is, ‘I’m treating her the way I would want to be treated if I were ever to go through what she is going through.’”

It’s made all the difference in Sara’s life.

“I am truly blessed to work for such a great organization and with such amazing coworkers,” says Sara. “I don’t believe I would’ve remained as positive as I have without them.”

The daily boost is needed: Sara is undergoing chemotherapy through early 2015. She begins six weeks of radiation therapy this month.

Sara’s condition brought awareness to her department as well, prompting about 15 coworkers to participate in a mammogram drive at Memorial Regional Breast Care Center. For many, it was their first mammogram.

Although Sara’s journey is far from over, she displays a level of grace that continually astonishes everyone in her department. Although she suffers many of the common side effects of chemotherapy, she comes to work every day with a smile on her face. Sara is truly an inspiration to us all, as well as a reminder that screenings and early detection are so important.

If you would like to schedule a mammogram, call any of the phone numbers below.

Memorial Regional Breast Care Center: 574.647.6850 

Lighthouse Imaging Center: 574.647.7700 

Elkhart General Breast Care Center: 574.523.7842