Food insecurity is growing among cancer patients in Fort Worth. What is the solution?

Lisa “Lulu” Newby, 45, never worried about not having food on the table.

Newby, who works as a registered nurse with Baylor Scott & White Health, brought home $4,000 a month.

But, in September 2022, she was diagnosed with stage 1 uterine sarcoma. It was scary, but she knew the best thing to do was begin chemotherapy as soon as possible. The hope was to beat it quickly, she said.

By the end of April, the cancer had grown to stage 4 — it began to affect her everyday tasks and workflow. As the pain and nausea from the cancer treatment grew, Newby made the decision to cut her work time down to only 24 hours a month.

Now, she brings home only $1,400 each month.

With her reduced income, Newby is struggling to pay medical bills and buy essentials, especially groceries, she said.

“With my income going down very low, it’s been hard, because I have to pick and choose to pay a bill or get groceries,” Newby said. “But I can’t really buy the groceries that I normally buy. I have to just pick the necessities.”

Like Newby, many other patients diagnosed or previously diagnosed with cancer face food insecurity. Of cancer survivors between the ages of 30 and 44 years of age, 59% were more likely to report being food insecure than respondents without a history of cancer, according to a study in the National Library of Medicine.

“When you get a cancer diagnosis, it can financially devastate not just the person with the diagnosis, but the entire support structure really quickly,” said Milette Siler, culinary nutrition program manager at the Moncrief Cancer Institute. “You can go from being very secure to being completely insecure in just a week or two.”

There has been a growing population of Fort Worth cancer patients struggling with food insecurity in recent years, said Shawn Howard, client program manager at Cancer Care Services.

‘They struggle’

As food insecurity becomes a serious problem among patients, Miguel Cruz, community social worker with Cancer Care Services, tries to caution every new patient on his caseload about the possibility.

Cancer Care Services currently serves more than 3,500 cancer patients, survivors and families in Tarrant County. About 65% of the organization’s patients are facing some level of food insecurity, with the majority living in underserved communities, said Howard.

David Moreno

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Fort Worth Report

Multiple factors play a role in food insecurity, including demographics, socioeconomics, level of education and exposure to hazardous environments.

“A lot of our clients are already at the razor’s edge of poverty before they get cancer, and it just tips the scale,” Howard said. “They struggle to pay for new medications and co-pays. What was already a pretty difficult trip to Walmart is now basically impossible for a lot of them.”

Almost immediately, Cruz connects patients with food pantries and food banks around Tarrant County. He also provides gas cards and free public transportation passes for eligible patients who need transportation to these services, he said.

“One can always assume that food insecurity is soon to come as someone entering cancer treatment progresses through time,” Cruz said.

Access to food programs isn’t the only answer for those in need. For cancer patients to thrive, it’s also important to focus on health education and equitable resources, Siler said.

“We can give people food at a food pantry, but if people don’t know how to incorporate those ingredients and use the tools to make it, it’s really kind of pointless,” she said.

What is the solution?

For cancer patients like Newby, time is not on her side — change needs to come sooner rather than later. There needs to be fewer restrictions in the requirements to access services, she said.

Most organizations look at Newby’s previous Form W-2 and assume she’s still taking home $4,000 monthly. That’s just not the case anymore, she said.

“They always look at my previous income and tell me I don’t meet the qualifications to get anything for free,” Newby said.

Newby has decided to apply for disability to continue to afford groceries. Friends and family have begun to chip in to help her pay her mortgage and medical bills.

As for Howard, he hopes more funding is allocated toward food assistance programs to provide healthier options for cancer patients.

“A lot of patients weren’t even eating healthy before they had cancer because they couldn’t afford it,” he said. “Now they’re being told they need to eat healthier because cancer treatments do cause some level of malnutrition. How do they afford it?”

David Moreno

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Fort Worth Report

For now, the Moncrief Cancer Institute is focusing on research in partnership with the Tarrant Area Food Bank to examine the impact of food insecurity within the cancer populations of the region. The goal is to have more concise local data. More study is needed, but there is evidence that the need is great in our communities, Siler said.

Since the last time she spoke with the Report, Newby’s uterine sarcoma has grown to her lungs. She also has new tumors by her bowel, she said in an email.

“Cancer has changed my life completely, and it’s been a struggle,” she said. “I’m still taking this all in.”

David Moreno is the health reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or via Twitter.

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This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.