A stage 1B diagnosis, two young kids, and no idea where to start.

The situation

Maya found the lump on a Tuesday. Two weeks later her radiologist called with the result. Stage 1B invasive ductal carcinoma. Maya is 34, runs a small home-based bookkeeping practice, and lives with her husband and two young kids in Cleveland. Her husband is a freelance graphic designer. There was no HR department to forward forms to. The pathology report on her phone looked like a foreign language, and within a week she had a packet of brochures from the radiologist and a list of three oncology groups she had never heard of. Sleeping had become its own job.

How Pinnie stepped in

Maya signed up with Pinnie on a Friday night. Her advocate Carmen called Monday morning. By the end of that week Carmen had translated the pathology report on a kitchen-table phone call, surfaced an oncologist in the MetroHealth system who took their plan, and confirmed an in-person appointment for the following Tuesday. While Maya prepared for the visit, Carmen filed the short-term disability paperwork through Ohio, requested medical records from three previous imaging centers, and set up a second-opinion video consult at Cleveland Clinic. She walked Maya through what to ask at each appointment. When the insurance company tried to deny the second opinion as duplicative, Carmen filed the appeal the same day and got it covered.

Where things are now

Maya had a lumpectomy in March and finished radiation in May. Both treatment teams aligned on the same plan. She did not need chemo. She was back at her desk in twelve weeks. The kids barely felt the disruption. Carmen still checks in every month.