Celebrating 80: Judy Childers shares why she’s a member

Family tradition

My mother was a very early Kaiser Permanente employee. So, I became a member when I was a child.

I graduated high school at 17 and then started working at Kaiser Permanente in 1965.

I moved quite a bit over the years. Whenever I moved back to an area that allowed me to choose Kaiser Permanente for my care, I did.

High-quality care

When I was 20 years old, I was in a very bad car accident. Half my face was removed, and my arm was crushed.

It took my Kaiser Permanente doctors 2 years to put me back together. Having that excellent care and support from a health care organization is so appreciated.

Being a young woman and having half of my face rebuilt — you become very dependent on and supportive of the people who did that. My doctors did such an excellent job. I’m a very loyal customer.

The right care at the right time

I’ve had cancer 7 times. Kaiser Permanente did my most significant surgeries.

I had ovarian cancer in my 30s. If you know anything about ovarian cancer, it’s pretty bad. But I’ve lived a long time since then. It was the Kaiser Permanente physicians and care teams that saved me. I’m so grateful.

I had a condition called trigeminal neuralgia. It’s a nerve condition that can cause intense pain in your face and head. It is debilitating.

Once, when I was visiting Arizona, I ended up in the emergency room because of the extreme pain. I was referred to a neurologist in town. He told me there was a renowned doctor who developed the first successful surgery for trigeminal neuralgia.

The doctor he recommended was a Kaiser Permanente doctor in Oregon 30 minutes from where I lived. That was great. He had me in surgery in 3 days. The pain stopped immediately. I’ve never had a problem since. That’s a miracle to me.

Now, I have a type of leukemia. I’ve been with my oncologist for more than 10 years. I am tested and have appointments every 6 months. I’ll continue with these follow-up appointments for the rest of my life. Although my cancer isn’t curable, it’s stable and has been for over 18 years.

You can’t ask for any better than that. It’s amazing.