Real Stories Real People: One Woman's Experience
Maintaining Control
"It was like clockwork. At the end of every month, I'd walk to the mailbox and there was a check from Mutual of Omaha. It was such a feeling of relief."
These days, Noreen Kidger has everything just the way she likes it – under control. Whether it's her job as a nurse in Manhattan, an extensive home renovation project or her two young children, she handles things in stride.
On Christmas Eve 2003, however, Noreen received news that left her reeling. She was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a cancer of the body's immune system. After her diagnosis, Noreen met with an oncologist who told her in order to get better she would have to take disability leave from work.
"When you're accustomed to paying your bills a certain way, the loss of an income can be scary," Noreen said. "I thought, on top of having cancer, I'm going to lose my house and my husband is going to have to work a hundred hours a week just to support us."
Then, she remembered a meeting she and her husband, Mike, had with their Mutual of Omaha representative. She searched her files and found her disability income policy statement from Mutual of Omaha – and began to cry in relief. She immediately called their agent who put the wheels in motion. Soon, Noreen began receiving monthly checks to replace her income.
When the Kidgers met their agent two years earlier to purchase life insurance, he suggested they also consider disability income insurance. "We didn't think we needed it. We were both young and healthy. Why would people like us need disability insurance?" Noreen said. "But he convinced us it was something we should have, just in case. I thank God he did."
Despite feeling tired and sick from chemotherapy, the disability benefits helped keep some sense of normalcy in the Kidgers' lives. "I was able to pay the bills like I always do," Noreen said. "It was like clockwork. At the end of every month, I'd walk to the mailbox and find a check from Mutual of Omaha. It was such a feeling of relief. When everything else was out of control, at least there was some control in one aspect of my life."
Now in complete remission, Noreen reflects on her eight-month ordeal and remembers how their Mutual of Omaha agent was there every step of the way, making sure she had the proper paperwork, received her checks and was doing well.
"You see commercials where insurance agents are holding their clients' hands. It sounds silly, but it was really like that," Noreen said. "I never thought a stranger could come into my life and help like that."