The iconic American model Pat Cleveland, a trailblazer in the worlds of beauty and fashion, received a shocking diagnosis of colon cancer in March, shortly after she arrived in the City of Lights for Paris Fashion Week. The 68-year-old model was rushed to a Paris hospital shortly after walking in Tommy Hilfiger’s show.
Cleveland’s husband, Paul Van Ravenstein, set up a GoFundMe to assist with her medical expenses, explaining to Page Six that his wife does not have any private health insurance coverage, and the fact that Cleveland was diagnosed outside of the U.S. has become a financial burden on the family. “Pat has no health insurance, she only has Medicare, which won’t cover anything outside of the country. We didn’t even think about it because Pat has been so healthy.”
Paying for cancer treatment is a major burden for so many Americans. The fact that Cleveland, someone who has achieved so much success in her career, still has to rely on crowdfunding to pay for treatment is really unsettling — and the model is not alone. In recent years, a huge number of people in the U.S. have turned to sites like GoFundMe to try to raise the money to stay alive.
It’s unclear what stage of colon cancer Cleveland has, but Van Ravenstein did mention in the GoFundMe’s description that she had surgery after getting the diagnosis, and is recovering in Paris until doctors give her the OK to travel. In the two days since Van Ravenstein set up the GoFundMe, fans and friends have already donated close to $60,000. Cleveland’s daughter Anna, who also happens to be a model, is caring for her mother during her time overseas, according to Van Ravenstein.
Cleveland made her big break in the fashion world in the ’60s and ’70s. She was one of the first African-American models to make real headway as a runway model. She has continued modeling well into her 60s. The cancer diagnosis reportedly came as quite a shock to her family. Even though the model had been complaining of digestive issues for several months, the family did not expect the diagnosis to be cancer.
“This is coming out of left field,” Van Ravenstein said, according to reports from WWD. “She’s healthy, she’s vegan. She doesn’t drink, she doesn’t smoke. I thought we had her checked four or five years ago, but I went to the hospital here near our house — and it seems the last time she was checked was in 2007. That’s too long.”
Van Ravenstein is right about that. Current recommendations call for average-risk people to begin screening for colon cancer with a colonoscopy every 10 years beginning at age 45. How often a person needs to screen really depends on their personal risk, but the 10-year rule is the standard for those with average risk — it gives doctors a chance to catch the cancer early because colon cancer tends to be very slow-growing. If you have a close relative who had colon cancer, a rule of thumb is to get screened 10 years prior to their age of diagnosis. If several family members had colon cancer and were diagnosed at young ages (less than 50), genetic screening may be required. And if you have a colonoscopy and polyps — or precancerous growths inside the colon — are picked up, you may need to get screened every 3 to 5 years.
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
The iconic American model Pat Cleveland, a trailblazer in the worlds of beauty and fashion, received a shocking diagnosis of colon cancer in March, shortly after she arrived in the City of Lights for Paris Fashion Week. The 68-year-old model was rushed to a Paris hospital shortly after walking in Tommy Hilfiger’s show.
Cleveland’s husband, Paul Van Ravenstein, set up a GoFundMe to assist with her medical expenses, explaining to Page Six that his wife does not have any private health insurance coverage, and the fact that Cleveland was diagnosed outside of the U.S. has become a financial burden on the family. “Pat has no health insurance, she only has Medicare, which won’t cover anything outside of the country. We didn’t even think about it because Pat has been so healthy.”
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Paying for cancer treatment is a major burden for so many Americans. The fact that Cleveland, someone who has achieved so much success in her career, still has to rely on crowdfunding to pay for treatment is really unsettling — and the model is not alone. In recent years, a huge number of people in the U.S. have turned to sites like GoFundMe to try to raise the money to stay alive.
It’s unclear what stage of colon cancer Cleveland has, but Van Ravenstein did mention in the GoFundMe’s description that she had surgery after getting the diagnosis, and is recovering in Paris until doctors give her the OK to travel. In the two days since Van Ravenstein set up the GoFundMe, fans and friends have already donated close to $60,000. Cleveland’s daughter Anna, who also happens to be a model, is caring for her mother during her time overseas, according to Van Ravenstein.
Cleveland made her big break in the fashion world in the ’60s and ’70s. She was one of the first African-American models to make real headway as a runway model. She has continued modeling well into her 60s. The cancer diagnosis reportedly came as quite a shock to her family. Even though the model had been complaining of digestive issues for several months, the family did not expect the diagnosis to be cancer.
“This is coming out of left field,” Van Ravenstein said, according to reports from WWD. “She’s healthy, she’s vegan. She doesn’t drink, she doesn’t smoke. I thought we had her checked four or five years ago, but I went to the hospital here near our house — and it seems the last time she was checked was in 2007. That’s too long.”
Van Ravenstein is right about that. Current recommendations call for average-risk people to begin screening for colon cancer with a colonoscopy every 10 years beginning at age 45. How often a person needs to screen really depends on their personal risk, but the 10-year rule is the standard for those with average risk — it gives doctors a chance to catch the cancer early because colon cancer tends to be very slow-growing. If you have a close relative who had colon cancer, a rule of thumb is to get screened 10 years prior to their age of diagnosis. If several family members had colon cancer and were diagnosed at young ages (less than 50), genetic screening may be required. And if you have a colonoscopy and polyps — or precancerous growths inside the colon — are picked up, you may need to get screened every 3 to 5 years.
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
