Plainfield Nurse to Ask Congress for More Cancer Research

Submitted by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network

Plainfield resident and oncology nurse Pamella Willett will join more than 750 cancer patients, survivors, volunteers and staff from all 50 states and nearly every congressional district in Washington, D.C., as part of the annual American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) Leadership Summit and Lobby Day. Advocates will ask Congress to take specific steps to make cancer a national priority and help end a disease that still kills 1,600 people a day in this country.

Willett will meet with Congressman Bill Foster,D-Ill., and Sens. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., and Dick Durbin,D-Ill., to discuss the need to support an increase in federal funding for cancer research. She will also ask them to co-sponsor a bill that supports patients’ quality of life and to support legislation that would close a loophole in Medicare often resulting in surprise costs for seniors when a polyp is found during a routine colonoscopy.

Willett became an oncology nurse after losing her mother to cancer. She said she is traveling to Washington, D.C. to help ensure fewer people will face a cancer diagnosis and to tell members of Congress they play a critical role in passing public health policies that fight this disease.

“One in two men and one in three women will hear the words ‘you have cancer’ in their lifetime. We need a full and unwavering commitment from Congress to take action to help prevent and treat cancer,” Willett said. “We want our lawmakers to know that volunteers from Illinois and from every state across the country are counting on them to take a stand.”