“I like being a support for my patients and their families. In many situations, there are a lot of unknowns, and I am happy they know they can call me at any time to ask questions or discuss concerns. I am a familiar face during a time in need.”
Angela Wagner, a lung care coordinator at Mercy Health – Springfield Cancer Center, is also the face of support.
Angela has been a pillar of support to our patients for more than 12 years. She empowers others in their toughest times, making sure they know they can lean on her, call her at any hour and trust her to help answer those tricky medical queries. She’s that familiar, comforting face when people need it most.
“I also enjoy working with multiple disciplines to coordinate care for patients,” she says. “Having someone helping to get tests and appointments scheduled really makes a difference in the timeline of care.”
Inspired by her aunt, who dedicated 40 years of her life to Mercy Health, Angela is driven by our Mission to improve the health and well-being of her local Springfield community.
Angela experienced firsthand the rapid and tragic loss of her mother-in-law to undiagnosed stage 4 bladder cancer. This also inspired her to strive and aid others through this challenging journey.
“My mother-in-law had undiagnosed stage 4 bladder cancer. She had been having generalized symptoms and some back issues. Upon having back surgery, her cancer was discovered. It was only eight weeks from the diagnosis until she passed away,” Angela explains. “Even in the medical field, there was so much information to take in and keep organized. After going through that experience, I was inspired to consider going into oncology care. I wanted to support patients the way our family was supported.”
Angela believes in her roots and takes pride in making a difference in people’s lives. Thanks to the Gala of Hope, which funded her position with a generous grant three years ago, Angela has been instrumental in raising awareness of the significance of lung cancer screenings.
She explains the need for annual check-ups, especially for smokers aged 50 to 80. She’s proud to report a 25 percent growth in these screenings throughout the past three years, a supporting sign of more early-stage diagnoses and optimistic outcomes.
When she’s not explaining testing results or aiding further testing procedures, she’s guiding her patients through their own cancer journeys.
“I meet with patients at their consult appointments with our oncologists, I teach chemo education for the lung cancer patients and am a support person for them and their families as they navigate treatment,” she says.
Angela says she hopes to help change current trends with lung cancer, like catching lung cancer in earlier stages where the chance of cure is so much higher. Lung cancer is often caught in late stages for many reasons – early-stage lung cancer has very few symptoms, the most common being a cough.
She also hopes to help dispel the stigma that comes with lung cancer. That starts with educating the community on how important lung screenings are and, with that, help talk about the importance of smoking cessation and teach kids to not vape or smoke in the first place.
But even though Angela has a job that can be both difficult and draining at times, it’s one she loves to do.
“I learn something new every day! We have an amazing group of physicians at the Cancer Center who are always willing to talk and teach,” she says. “I also love my patients. It is truly an honor to be a part of their stories. We meet them at a very hard and trying time in their lives, and the strength and resilience they show are amazing.”
Life outside the hospital is just as robust for Angela. Married for nearly 16 years and a mother of two boys, she enjoys being on the move.
“My oldest is a swimmer and is very involved in theater, and my youngest is an avid soccer player. The odds are that you will find us driving them to a practice of some sort on any given evening. I have wonderful family and friends that we hang out with and two adorable nieces that I love to see any chance I get. I wouldn’t have it any other way! Someday, I will have time for my own interests again, but in the meantime, I am watching musicals or movies about soccer, finding new recipes to cook and trying new things!”
Read more stories from our team members at Mercy Health.
