2010 Health Care Champion Honoree: Deborah Lowrance

Deborah Lowrance is a nurse navigator – a guide who leads cancer patients through the twists and turns of diagnosis, treatment and recovery.

Lowrance is one of four cancer care coordinators for the Cancer Resource Program through St. John’s Cancer Resource Center, focusing her efforts on patients with head and neck cancer.

“We get a lot of feedback that (her efforts) made the patients’ journeys a little easier,” says Sharon Davis, director of the resource center and Lowrance’s supervisor. “She has a caring, kind approach.”

Care coordinators are a relatively new concept for St. John’s Cancer Resource Center; Lowrance was named to her current position in 2008.

“What makes her great is her vast amount of experience,” Davis says.
Lowrance has spent her career at St. John’s, joining the health system in 1976 after graduating from St. John’s School of Nursing. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Southwest Baptist University.

Lowrance says head and neck cancer treatment often involves several physicians and specialized medical staff members. While patients used to be admitted to the hospital for several days at a time for tests and treatment, care today often happens on an outpatient basis.

Lowrance says her duties include everything from going with patients to their first doctors’ appointments to alleviating the anxiety that comes with learning to swallow again after throat surgery. She helps patients move through the medical system efficiently without duplicating or overlooking services or undergoing unexpected delays.

Lowrance says educating patients empowers them to make treatment decisions, and she’s inspired by those she sees during their toughest times.

“I have had (multiple sclerosis) for 23 years,” Lowrance says. “I do very well with all the input I’ve learned from my patients.”

Lowrance has served on several committees and projects through the years, but she says Camp
Bluebird is a favorite. Sponsored by AT&T Pioneers and St. John’s, the camp provides a weekend retreat for adult cancer patients twice a year. Lowrance is on the planning committee and is camp nurse.

“It’s a very safe environment. It’s nonjudgmental,” Lowrance says, noting that campers have a chance to share experiences and listen to educational speakers.
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