Several people have asked me recently to explain about the incidental costs, the not-so-directly-medical bills, that occur with a cancer diagnosis, especially when you have a family. Cancer is awful not just because of the disease, but because it is a holocaust to just about every area of your life. According to the American Cancer Society a diagnosis financially ruins 1 out of every 6 people who develop cancer.
Josh was laid off for 7 months during the later part of 2009 and the beginning of 2010. Kate was born Oct 7th, 2010 about the time that we were recovering financially from having been laid off and we made the decision at that time for Josh to undergo the allergy shots series that would help him to not react so poorly during allergy season. Undergoing the shots series required a financial commitment to the allergist to complete the two year series because they make the serum in batches and would incur the cost whether we actually went in for the shots or not, between $1800 and $2000 per year.
Josh’s insurance plan has a high deductible and then covers 100%. Annually we have a $3000 per
person and $5000 family out of pocket maximum to meet before the insurance will cover anything. Normally this is great for us because it takes the least out of our monthly paycheck and covers the
most should something catastrophic happen. We contribute $3000 to a flexible medical savings account (FSA) annually and typically don’t spend more than that on medical expenses, except for prescription drugs which are covered separately. This meant that we needed to cover the gap between the $3000 that we had in our FSA and the $5000 family out of pocket maximum that was created by Josh’s shots and my breast cancer diagnosis; we maxed out our family’s contribution even before
I had my mastectomy. Thank you, God, for great medical insurance. $2000 out of pocket to breast cancer.
I found a lump breast feeding Kate who at the time was turning 5 months old as I was turning 33. I found a lump in my left breast on March 2nd, Kate turned 5 months March 7th, I turned 33 on March 9th, and I went into urgent care on March 10th to get the lump checked out. I was sent in for a mammogram and ultrasound on March 11th; that was the day that we first heard the words, “breast
cancer”.
Starting March 10th when I went in to urgent care and for the next month until my mastectomy April 6th we went into Eugene almost every day and sometimes twice in a day for doctor’s appointments
and diagnostic imaging and tests and pre-op appointments, and drove the kids out to my sister’s house so she could watch them during all these procedures. During this one month time
period we spent an extra $350 in gas.
After my mastectomy we had a two week recovery period before we started meeting with oncologists. Because my breast cancer presented atypically and because of my age we made the decision to drive up to Portland to see an oncologist at Oregon Health Sciences University, a 90 mile drive one-way. We drove up to OHSU on May 3rd, May 4th, May 11th, and on May 12th had 7 appointments in 7 different places around OHSU. That many appointments on one day
meant that we ate out that day ($$). We stayed the night on the 12th as I had back to back surgeries
scheduled the next morning and needed to check into the surgery wing at 6:30am. Josh ate lunch at the hospital while I was still in recovery ($$) and then my blood pressure took a dive and I starting having heart arrhythmia and had a hard time staying awake and responding to the nurses. Instead of staying in the outpatient facilities we took a nice vacation in the cardiac wing
overnight. Josh was fortunate to be able to stay with friends for the night but we then had an additional day of eating out. I was released after 24hr observation and recovered enough to drive to Portland for my first Chemo on May 24th , we then switched to an oncologist and a clinic in Eugene. The regime I was on was an infusion followed by a shot the next day that I had to receive at the
clinic, this lasted from mid May until mid July when I started different drugs that I went in for every week. All told, with another surgery after Chemo ended and the radiation I have just started, I have been, no joke, to the doctor or physically therapy or some cancer related treatment 90 times in the last 7 months. Like our increased food expenses, I actually have no idea how much extra we have spent in gas the last 7 months. Even if we had just driven to Eugene and back for those 90 appointments we would have spent around $1200, just for gas.
I’m sure everyone is familiar with the in-network and out-of-network provider requirements of insurance companies. I’ve learned to call ahead and ask before making an appointment. But, somewhere during the insanity of our diagnosis time period, we had an out-of-network provider. $100 out-of-pocket to an out-of-network doctor.
Have you ever had a family emergency and you just drop everything in your life just to get through it? Cleaning? Forget it. Home cooked meals? You just don’t have the energy. I needed to have lunches that I could whisk together and drop off with the kids at a sitter's or my sister’s house, and often didn’t have the energy when I got home to cook dinner. Our family budget for food went completely out the window. I actually have no idea what we spent then or have been spending on food each month. We went from insanity of diagnosis to my mastectomy to driving to Portland for the oncologist to another surgery to Chemo to another surgery to where we currently are, in radiation
treatment. Convenience food for lunches and dinners = $$???
After it became clear we were headed toward a mastectomy and further treatments we needed to wean Kate who happens to have issues with dairy products. Special formula cost us around $125-$150 per month from March to October. $800 to $975 total to formula that we had never planned on.
(Are you getting the impression yet that cancer is expensive for families??)
Because we have always loved big families and wanted one ourselves we made lifestyle choices in order to reduce some of the costs associated with having lots of kids, including investing in cloth diapers. Well, laundry for 6 is one of the areas that gets difficult with illness, without the addition of the cloth diapers that Kate would soil. I think I gave up shortly after Josh’s mom went home after helping out during my mastectomy surgery. I’ll be generous and say it has only cost us $50 per month for disposable diapers. $50 per month for the last 7 months since my mastectomy towards diapers since my diagnosis = $350.
Having mastectomy surgery makes people nauseous for some reason, and I left the hospital before I had finished being sick. In addition, I was on pain meds, an anti-biotic from the infection I was fighting, a muscle relaxant, and a prescription to help with the itching associated with amputating part of your body. I was also very nauseous from Chemo and on 6 different prescription medications I refilled every other week. Just from the Chemo alone we spent from $40 to $150 every other week on prescriptions for 4 1/2 months.
Then there are mastectomy bras and hats and lotions to deal with radiation burns…and…and…
And all of it can make you go totally crazy just from trying to juggle the finances. We were so
fortunate to have some savings at the start of this mess and to have insurance that covers 100% after our deductible is met. I can’t remember where I read it, but I remember reading that the average cost of treating breast cancer in the first year is around $200,000. Imagine having an 80%/20% plan and you can see why so many cancer patients amass catastrophic levels of debt from medical bills alone.
I have been so grateful for the outpouring of prayers and financial support we have received in the last 2 weeks from everyone. I wanted to end this journal by thanking all of you. If you can imagine how emotionally tired we are at this point, then imagine a proportionate amount of relief and joy in the easing of the burden we are carrying. It still brings me to tears as I write this. We can’t thank you all enough for your help.
Josh was laid off for 7 months during the later part of 2009 and the beginning of 2010. Kate was born Oct 7th, 2010 about the time that we were recovering financially from having been laid off and we made the decision at that time for Josh to undergo the allergy shots series that would help him to not react so poorly during allergy season. Undergoing the shots series required a financial commitment to the allergist to complete the two year series because they make the serum in batches and would incur the cost whether we actually went in for the shots or not, between $1800 and $2000 per year.
Josh’s insurance plan has a high deductible and then covers 100%. Annually we have a $3000 per
person and $5000 family out of pocket maximum to meet before the insurance will cover anything. Normally this is great for us because it takes the least out of our monthly paycheck and covers the
most should something catastrophic happen. We contribute $3000 to a flexible medical savings account (FSA) annually and typically don’t spend more than that on medical expenses, except for prescription drugs which are covered separately. This meant that we needed to cover the gap between the $3000 that we had in our FSA and the $5000 family out of pocket maximum that was created by Josh’s shots and my breast cancer diagnosis; we maxed out our family’s contribution even before
I had my mastectomy. Thank you, God, for great medical insurance. $2000 out of pocket to breast cancer.
I found a lump breast feeding Kate who at the time was turning 5 months old as I was turning 33. I found a lump in my left breast on March 2nd, Kate turned 5 months March 7th, I turned 33 on March 9th, and I went into urgent care on March 10th to get the lump checked out. I was sent in for a mammogram and ultrasound on March 11th; that was the day that we first heard the words, “breast
cancer”.
Starting March 10th when I went in to urgent care and for the next month until my mastectomy April 6th we went into Eugene almost every day and sometimes twice in a day for doctor’s appointments
and diagnostic imaging and tests and pre-op appointments, and drove the kids out to my sister’s house so she could watch them during all these procedures. During this one month time
period we spent an extra $350 in gas.
After my mastectomy we had a two week recovery period before we started meeting with oncologists. Because my breast cancer presented atypically and because of my age we made the decision to drive up to Portland to see an oncologist at Oregon Health Sciences University, a 90 mile drive one-way. We drove up to OHSU on May 3rd, May 4th, May 11th, and on May 12th had 7 appointments in 7 different places around OHSU. That many appointments on one day
meant that we ate out that day ($$). We stayed the night on the 12th as I had back to back surgeries
scheduled the next morning and needed to check into the surgery wing at 6:30am. Josh ate lunch at the hospital while I was still in recovery ($$) and then my blood pressure took a dive and I starting having heart arrhythmia and had a hard time staying awake and responding to the nurses. Instead of staying in the outpatient facilities we took a nice vacation in the cardiac wing
overnight. Josh was fortunate to be able to stay with friends for the night but we then had an additional day of eating out. I was released after 24hr observation and recovered enough to drive to Portland for my first Chemo on May 24th , we then switched to an oncologist and a clinic in Eugene. The regime I was on was an infusion followed by a shot the next day that I had to receive at the
clinic, this lasted from mid May until mid July when I started different drugs that I went in for every week. All told, with another surgery after Chemo ended and the radiation I have just started, I have been, no joke, to the doctor or physically therapy or some cancer related treatment 90 times in the last 7 months. Like our increased food expenses, I actually have no idea how much extra we have spent in gas the last 7 months. Even if we had just driven to Eugene and back for those 90 appointments we would have spent around $1200, just for gas.
I’m sure everyone is familiar with the in-network and out-of-network provider requirements of insurance companies. I’ve learned to call ahead and ask before making an appointment. But, somewhere during the insanity of our diagnosis time period, we had an out-of-network provider. $100 out-of-pocket to an out-of-network doctor.
Have you ever had a family emergency and you just drop everything in your life just to get through it? Cleaning? Forget it. Home cooked meals? You just don’t have the energy. I needed to have lunches that I could whisk together and drop off with the kids at a sitter's or my sister’s house, and often didn’t have the energy when I got home to cook dinner. Our family budget for food went completely out the window. I actually have no idea what we spent then or have been spending on food each month. We went from insanity of diagnosis to my mastectomy to driving to Portland for the oncologist to another surgery to Chemo to another surgery to where we currently are, in radiation
treatment. Convenience food for lunches and dinners = $$???
After it became clear we were headed toward a mastectomy and further treatments we needed to wean Kate who happens to have issues with dairy products. Special formula cost us around $125-$150 per month from March to October. $800 to $975 total to formula that we had never planned on.
(Are you getting the impression yet that cancer is expensive for families??)
Because we have always loved big families and wanted one ourselves we made lifestyle choices in order to reduce some of the costs associated with having lots of kids, including investing in cloth diapers. Well, laundry for 6 is one of the areas that gets difficult with illness, without the addition of the cloth diapers that Kate would soil. I think I gave up shortly after Josh’s mom went home after helping out during my mastectomy surgery. I’ll be generous and say it has only cost us $50 per month for disposable diapers. $50 per month for the last 7 months since my mastectomy towards diapers since my diagnosis = $350.
Having mastectomy surgery makes people nauseous for some reason, and I left the hospital before I had finished being sick. In addition, I was on pain meds, an anti-biotic from the infection I was fighting, a muscle relaxant, and a prescription to help with the itching associated with amputating part of your body. I was also very nauseous from Chemo and on 6 different prescription medications I refilled every other week. Just from the Chemo alone we spent from $40 to $150 every other week on prescriptions for 4 1/2 months.
Then there are mastectomy bras and hats and lotions to deal with radiation burns…and…and…
And all of it can make you go totally crazy just from trying to juggle the finances. We were so
fortunate to have some savings at the start of this mess and to have insurance that covers 100% after our deductible is met. I can’t remember where I read it, but I remember reading that the average cost of treating breast cancer in the first year is around $200,000. Imagine having an 80%/20% plan and you can see why so many cancer patients amass catastrophic levels of debt from medical bills alone.
I have been so grateful for the outpouring of prayers and financial support we have received in the last 2 weeks from everyone. I wanted to end this journal by thanking all of you. If you can imagine how emotionally tired we are at this point, then imagine a proportionate amount of relief and joy in the easing of the burden we are carrying. It still brings me to tears as I write this. We can’t thank you all enough for your help.
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