ST. LOUIS COUNTY (KSDK) - Well past handshakes, Marcia Miller and Patricia Polk greet each other with hugs.
Miller said, "Every time I had questions Patricia would say, 'Marcia it's fine. Don't worry about it.'"
Miller has had many questions about breast cancer.
She was diagnosed with Stage 4 this past October after she received a flyer in the mail for a free mammogram at Christian Hospital Northwest in Florissant. The free screening was through a program called "Protecting and Healing Women."
Miller says there was no history of breast cancer in her family. She also had no insurance. The diagnosis came not long after she'd quit her job to take care of her ailing mother.
"I came in and of course asked me for my insurance card, and I said, 'I didn't have one,' and they said, 'it's alright fill out this paper.'"
Program Coordinator Patricia Polk says, "We have many women that come in and they have no insurance, and they have no other avenue of getting a mammogram."
Screenings, treatment, follow up - it's all available at Christian Northwest at little to no cost. Meaning, even without insurance, help is available.
Polk says thanks to a grant from Komen-St. Louis, there's no need to worry about cost. Instead, the focus can be on support and healing.
Polk says, "We are there for those women. Whatever is needed: we laugh, we cry, whatever is needed."
Miller's "need" turned out to be a mastectomy, radiation and now hormone therapy. She says it's been a roller coaster, but she's positive about her future.
"I'm a firm believer in God, so I just say God you brought me to this, you'll see me through it."