"Cancer doesn't care."

MotivateMe incentive program results in early cancer catch

 

When first-grade teacher Susan Davenport learned about Cigna’s MotivateMe incentive program, she saw it as an easy way to earn a $100 gift card. She never envisioned it would help her detect — and beat — breast cancer.

 

Now she’s among the program’s biggest advocates.

 

Susan learned about MotivateMe through an MNPS email. The preventive care and wellness activities listed in it made earning points straightforward. She was already working with health coach Bobbi Nickel through the MNPS Health Care Centers, so she could count those wellness points immediately. On the prevention side, she chose a common screening.

 

“Working with a wellness coach was worth 50 points and getting a mammogram was worth 50 points,” she says. “So right off the bat, I had the 100 points I needed to earn a $100 gift card.”

 

Susan, who is physically active and has healthy eating habits, was stunned when she got the results of her mammogram and follow-up testing. Her voice breaks when she remembers the call that came during her workday at Glendale Spanish Immersion School.

 

“I heard the word ‘cancer’ and I couldn’t even listen beyond that,” she says. “I had to tell the woman from the clinic I’d have to talk to her later because I couldn’t take it in.”

When she composed herself and called back, she learned she had Stage 1 breast cancer.

 

“I’m a person who takes really good care of myself,” she says. “I eat well, I exercise. I do all the right things. But cancer? Cancer doesn’t care.”

 

Now, after a lumpectomy and radiation treatment, Susan counts her blessings.

“It was caught very early,” she says. “I’m really grateful for the incentive program and for getting the mammogram when I did.”

 

Her health care team didn’t just treat her body; they also helped keep her spirit strong. Take Bobbi, her health coach, for example.

 

“She’s a good person to talk to,” Susan says. “We’ve had a great relationship ever since I started seeing her. I love going to her, and the front office staff is wonderful, too.”

Her doctors were supportive, and she used the myCigna app to make sense of billing and administrative matters.

 

Susan has worked in school systems in several states and has 20 years with MNPS. She says she never had to put her health insurance to the test before, but Cigna approved all of her appointments and bills.

 

“I’m really very thankful for their incentive program, and I think more people should take advantage of it,” she says. “Look what happened to me.” “I’m $100 richer and through breast cancer now. I encourage others to take advantage of the perks they offer.”

 

Johnsie Holt, MNPS employee wellness coordinator, believes an emphasis on wellness and prevention makes good sense for everyone.

 

“We want to address any issues on the front end,” she says. “We don’t want them to have to face chronic conditions, so the earlier we can get people into the clinics, the better for their health.”

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