Will Rogers International Airport TSO Patricia Leftwich (OKC photo)
Oklahoma TSA Officer Patricia Leftwich – known as Lefty by her fellow officers – credits her supervisor’s above and beyond request for a doctor’s note for saving her life.
After a hip replacement surgery and rehabilitation, Leftwich returned to Will Rogers International Airport (OKC) for her first shift, but she didn’t look well.
“Everyone was so excited to see her, but something just seemed off,” remembered Crystal Moore. Now the OKC stakeholder liaison, Moore was one of Leftwich’s supervisors at the time. “I told her she looked jaundiced, and I believe that struck a nerve with her. I think she was surprised that someone else noticed.”
Known as a motherly figure around OKC, Leftwich is the knowledgeable person teammates count on. Open season questions about medical insurance? Lefty’s got the answers. At home, her large family depends on her too. A single mom, Leftwich raises her four children, a mix of her grandkids and her nieces that she adopted over a decade ago.
A dependable and loyal officer, Leftwich completed her shift but called out sick the next day. Moore and Supervisory Officer Ranjani Natarajan, another of Leftwich’s supervisors, worried she pushed too hard and returned too fast. A doctor’s note was not a requirement after calling out for a single day, but out of an abundance of caution, Natarajan suggested Leftwich get checked before returning to the checkpoint.
After a visit to a quick care doctor’s office yielded inconclusive results, Leftwich decided to go to the emergency room where doctors suspected kidney stones. Instead, a CAT scan revealed something far more serious - a large mass.
The discovery set off a chain of urgent medical evaluations, ultimately leading Leftwich to a cancer specialist who recommended immediate surgery. During the procedure, doctors found two large tumors, one of which was wrapped around her intestines, making removal at that time impossible. She soon began an aggressive five-month chemotherapy regimen.
“There were some days she had to call out or leave a little early, but Patricia worked the whole time,” said Moore.
Fortunately, her body responded well to treatment, and Leftwich’s follow up surgery in March was a success.
“I’m cancer free, and I will continue treatments to make sure it doesn’t come back,” Leftwich said recently. “Life is good.”
Reflecting on her experience, Leftwich recognizes the crucial role her supervisors played in her diagnosis. Without Natarajan’s suggestion for her to get a doctor’s note, she may have never pursued further testing that quite literally saved her life. She remains deeply grateful for their support and for the sense of family within TSA that helped her through this journey. Her OKC teammates eagerly await her return to duty next month.
Leftwich’s story is one of resilience, gratitude and the life-saving power of workplace support. She continues to be an integral part of the TSA team demonstrating unwavering dedication in her service and in her fight for her health.
By Karen Robicheaux, Strategic Communications & Public Affairs