Anne Webster: Welcome back to Your Employee Podcast, where you can hear and learn from other Costco employees who have overcome or managed their own challenges with the help of Costco benefits. Today we’re talking with Costco employee, Neil Rodenbeck. Hi, Neil. Nice to have you here.

Neil Rodenbeck: Hey, how are you?

Anne Webster: Doing great. So how long have you been with Costco?

Neil Rodenbeck: 10 years.

Anne Webster: Great. Which location do you work at?

Neil Rodenbeck: I work at the Bozeman, Montana, number 96.

Anne Webster: And what do you do there?

Neil Rodenbeck: I’m a morning stocker. So everything that comes off the shelf during the day, it’s my job to put it back on there in the morning.

Anne Webster: That’s a big job. And how about outside of work? What do you like to do?

Neil Rodenbeck: I like to be outdoors. I like to do yard work. I like to spend time with my twin 8-year-old boys, riding bikes. Also going on hikes with my wife who loves to be outdoors as well.

Anne Webster: That sounds lovely. So Neil, what led you to get help from your Costco benefits?

Neil Rodenbeck: I’ve always been one that has loved to give rather than receive. My wife just recently graduated with her nurse practitioner degree and during her schooling, I wanted to help out with bills a little bit more, so we were a little more comfortable. And so that led me to want to donate plasma. They do a blood draw each time that you come in and a screening and my protein was low, so they turned me away and said, “You need to get that back up and come see us tomorrow and we’ll check it again.” I came back the next day, it was low, so they turned me away. Next time, it turned me away. So after three, and I didn’t know this, they referred me to my primary care provider who did a blood draw to see if maybe there was an issue. Well, come to find out there was an issue and it resulted in me having a rare blood disease called hairy cell leukemia.

Anne Webster: That must’ve been a shock to hear. I mean, you’re young and healthy and probably didn’t expect that at all.

Neil Rodenbeck: No, you wouldn’t think that that would be something that would ever happen to you. But it did and it led me on a journey that was a very positive one.

Anne Webster: What did you do at that point?

Neil Rodenbeck: So the first step after I met with my oncologist, we had a treatment plan and my first thing was, what is this going to cost? Where do I go from here? I got ahold of my Costco benefits, the Concierge team, the Live Healthy team, and they right away just said, “Here’s what we’re going to do. Here’s where we’re going to help you. Here’s what your copay should be. If it’s anything different, let us know. If you need help with your bills, we’ll set you up with a social worker. We’re going to be checking in on you every week just to make sure that this goes as smoothly as possible because you have a very rare journey that you’re going to be going down and you need one less thing to worry about.”

Anne Webster: I’m glad you got the support you needed. Was this new information for you?

Neil Rodenbeck: Yeah, so there was a lot of resources that I didn’t know I had available, but I do now. Nikki Fondoe, she is the morning merch manager. She would always touch base with that every morning and run us through our day of what it was going to be like. But then also as a side note, say, “Hey, have you guys checked out your benefits? I noticed a lot of you maybe have some aches or pains. Go online, check out your Costco benefits, see how it can help you. You may find something on there that you didn’t know that you had.”

And there are a lot of individuals that appreciate that input and say same thing I did that, “Wow. I didn’t know we had that as a benefit.” Another individual, Wendy Oliver, our payroll clerk, she helped me get started on my journey, helped me get started on short-term disability and how I was going to do that process. But she never deterred away from the fact of saying, “Well, this is what you need to do and if you need help, this is how I’ll help you.”

Anne Webster: Wow. I’m so glad you had so many people and resources there to help you. And how are you doing today?

Neil Rodenbeck: I got the bill of all clear.

Anne Webster: Oh, my gosh. Congratulations.

Neil Rodenbeck: I know. It’s something that you hope for. And I had all the resources that I needed knowing that I wasn’t going to get blindsided with the cost, that I knew that my insurance was taking care of me, made it very smooth. “We’re in This Together.” When they say that, that’s not just a motto, it is an actual pledge that they stand behind.

Anne Webster: I’m so glad to hear that. Any final words to fellow employees about using their Costco benefits?

Neil Rodenbeck: They’re a big corporation, but they’re on your level. Any question that you have, they’re there for you every step of the way. So check out your benefits, go to Costcobenefits.com and see what resource is available to you that you didn’t know that you had.

Anne Webster: Neil, thank you so much for sharing your story and spending time with us. Until next time, stay well, be safe, and remember, We’re in This Together.