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Saving and Changing Lives

Employees reflect on how Duke medical benefits have improved their lives

From left, Duke employees Deb McCallum, Leon Nelson and Kay Webb share stories about how Duke medical benefits have helped them manage conditions and make healthy lifestyle changes.
From left, Duke employees Deb McCallum, Leon Nelson and Kay Webb share stories about how Duke medical benefits have helped them manage conditions and make healthy lifestyle changes.

For much of her adult life, Kay Webb has been trying to lose weight. She’s bought dozens of wellness books and joined Weight Watchers 29 different times since the late 1970s.

She lost 100 pounds in 1978, but slowly put it back on until reaching 382 pounds in 2010. The cartilage in her right knee was gone, she had back pain and her energy level sometimes felt next to nothing.

“You’re miserable because you can’t walk very far and you can’t stand up,” said Webb, costume shop supervisor for University Center Activities & Events’  Theater Operations. “I thought I’d go on disability.”

But after finding an Atkins Diet book at a Wal-Mart six years ago and receiving medication and doctor visits through her Duke medical plan, Webb got her health back on track.

She changed her diet  - no carbs and more protein and fat – and started to lose weight. Her health insurance allowed her to see Dr. Eric Westman, a Duke physician and renowned low-carb diet specialist. Extra help came from a monthly low-carb support group, and she started sprint exercises two or three times a week in Durham’s Long Meadow neighborhood.


Seen in these "before and after" photographs, Duke employee Kay Webb weighed around 370 pounds in the mid-1990s, eventually reaching 382 in 2010. Duke's medical benefits have helped her lose weight and drop to 230.

The weight came off – even though she needed knee replacement surgeries in 2014 (right knee) and 2015 (left knee). She’s closing in on weighing 230 pounds now and turned in her campus parking permit, opting to ride a bike or walk and take a bus the two miles to work. She’s off weight-related medications, saving $70 a month.

“The resources Duke provides mean everything,” said Webb, 65. “We have access to so much and without the insurance or Dr. Westman, I wouldn’t be where I am.”

It’s this time of year when Webb is reminded how far she’s come, as faculty and staff take time to consider health benefits during Open Enrollment, which runs Oct. 24 to Nov. 4. Medical, dental and vision plans are eligible for updates for about 65,000 individuals covered by Duke’s four health plans. In the past fiscal year, Duke provided nearly $208 million in total payments for health concerns for all plan participants, up $10 million from the previous year.

Stories from across Duke echo Webb’s experience, as employees reflect on how their Duke benefits have improved their lives.

A mammogram and mastectomy


Duke senior accounting specialist Deb McCallum meets with Duke reconstructive surgeon Dr. Scott Hollenbeck for a follow-up appointment about breast reconstructive surgery.

In 2011, Deb McCallum visited Duke Clinic for a routine mammogram. It had been 11 months since her last screening.

But what she expected to be a normal visit resulted in follow-ups for an ultrasound and biopsy.

As McCallum sat in front of her doctor in an exam room during a follow-up, he pulled out a piece of paper, drawing a circle with colored pencils. The circle represented McCallum’s left breast, and three dots he scribbled inside were malignant cancer.

McCallum, a senior accounting specialist in the Duke Fuqua School of Business Accounting Office, was 59 years old when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She remembered going to Chili’s with her family after the appointment, where tears were shed as her mother, two sisters and boyfriend absorbed the news. Her treatment would be a mastectomy.

“I said, ‘OK, all of you people, you’re either with me or you’re against me, and if you start getting negative, you’re against me,’ ” McCallum said. “This is a part of my journey through life. This is just the leg of the trip that I’m on. Crying ain’t gonna take it away.”

Three months after the cancer diagnosis, her left breast was removed. She underwent reconstructive surgery, a decision fueled by her love of the beach and feeling comfortable in a swimsuit. She has had eight surgeries to shape stomach tissue that replaced breast tissue and continues to visit her surgeon once a year.

For all surgeries, which cost a total of about $500,000, she paid about $1,800 out of pocket because she is covered by one of Duke’s medical plans, Duke Select.

“I never got any bills from the hospital,” said McCallum, now 62. “Had I not had the insurance I had and worked here, I couldn’t have had that surgery. It would have been impossible. I don’t know anyone who could afford to have that surgery done unless you were a millionaire.”

It runs in the family


Leon Nelson, a housekeeper who cares for The Link in Perkins Library, paid $450 on a $16,000 heart surgery due to his Duke medical insurance.

Even with a threat of diabetes always present, Leon Nelson didn’t think he’d be at risk to get diagnosed with the disease at 63. But there he was earlier this year, getting test results from an emergency room doctor after he had been brought to Duke Hospital for heart palpitations.

Nelson spent his life watching other family members deal with diabetes, including his cousins and parents. His father died from complications related to the disease in May.

“I was in shock after my diagnosis because I did a lot of walking prior to that and I try to stay off sugary sweets,” said Nelson, 63, a housekeeper in Perkins Library. “At my age, I never thought I’d be diabetic.”

Through his Duke Select insurance plan, he was referred to DukeWELL, a free care management program for employees dealing with a variety of serious illnesses, including heart problems and diabetes. He was placed in a monthly diabetes support class at the Duke Family Medicine Center, was set up with Duke doctors for monthly check-ins, and met with dietitians to plan balanced meals with smaller portions and more fruits and vegetables.

“Now I’m drinking more water than I’ve drank in my whole life,” Nelson said.

He’s also taking medication for Type II diabetes and rapid heart rate after needing heart ablation surgery in June to correct the organ’s rhythm patterns. Nelson said his only cost for the inpatient surgery was a $450 copay for a roughly $16,000 procedure.

“So many people don’t have insurance, and if I hadn’t had Duke Select, that’s the kind of money I don’t have,”
he said. “I’m very glad to be at Duke.”

Nelson continues to walk frequently at Durham’s Northern High School and has lost 10 pounds since he was diagnosed in January. He plans to lose at least 10 more.

“I feel twice as good as I used to,” he said.

A heart-to-heart with her husband


Duke computerized EKG technician Onette Shaw, right, includes her husband, James, under her Duke medical plan. James suffered a heart attack in 2015 and was admitted to Duke Hospital.

Onette Shaw’s husband, James, arrived home from his shift at Kroger and settled in the living room to watch TV when he mentioned his chest pain.

Onette, a computerized EKG technician who works on the cardiology floor of Duke Hospital, noticed his symptoms weren’t disappearing. Onette and her husband got in the car and drove 10 minutes to Duke Hospital’s Emergency Department.

Early that July morning in 2015, they got the results back from his electrocardiogram (EKG), vital signs, blood tests and an X-ray: The main artery of his heart was 95 percent obstructed.

“One of the cardiologists I work with said that’s known as the widow-maker,” Onette said.

James was immediately admitted to the cardiology floor and went into the catheterization lab for surgery to clean the clogged arteries. Onette and her husband were covered by Duke insurance and paid $450 for the inpatient admission and two-night hospital stay. Without her Duke Select plan, Onette would have been responsible for paying about $50,000.

A year later, James has lost 40 pounds and cut fried food from his diet. He spends time with their three children and joined a spring basketball league at church.

“When something major happens, you appreciate the fact that you have that health insurance,” said Onette, who is 40. “I don’t know what we would have done if we had actually lost him. I’ve been with James since I was 19. I don’t know anybody else.”

Saving and Changing Lives - By the Numbers

As of June 2016, this is how many active employees, family members and retirees are covered by Duke's health plans, per Duke Human Resources:

From April 2014 to March 2015, Duke spent a total of $194.9 million covering a variety of medical treatments for Duke employees and covered family members. These are the top-10 costs in the same time period, per Duke Human Resources:

Get More Out of Duke's Benefits - Coming Up Next:

October 10: Enroll or Make Benefits Changes Beginning Oct. 24

October 17: Saving and Changing Lives, Duke employees share how Duke health plans improved their lives

October 24: Your Open Enrollment Questions Answered

October 31: Get the Most Out of Pharmacy Benefits

November 4: How to Achieve Your Wellness Goals