Cost

Did you know there is a heroin epidemic? Yeah. It's sad.

Also, a lot of people are diagnosed with cancer every single day. In fact, according to google, approximately 12.7 people are diagnosed with cancer each year.

The other day Tom was watching the news. I happened to hear one particular segment in which someone politician was saying that we need to set up clinics where heroin addicts can go for treatment of their addiction regardless of whether they can pay for that treatment.

Now, sure, let's do that.

But let's also provide cancer patients with treatment regardless of their ability to pay.

Did you know that in January, right before my third dose of Taxol, I was informed that the remaining ten treatments were going to cost me $5000 out of pocket? Obviously this is because it was the beginning of the new year and all the things I'd paid for the previous year were wiped clean and my out-of-pocket expenses were starting over. I had to meet my deductible of $5000 all over again before insurance was going to start paying.

Yeah. We don't happen to have $5000 laying around. I hope others do but I know that we don't. I mean, sure, we can pay our mortgage each month, we can pay for electricity and put gas in our cars. We are also able to pay our homeowners and auto insurance and still buy groceries each week. I know we're definitely more privileged than so many but we absolutely don't have an extra $5000 in our bank accounts.

I'm so incredibly lucky to have amazing people working on my side. The clerk at the hospital with whom I spoke about payments looked into a program for me and less than a week after I met with her, I got approval from an outside company that covered the entire $5000 for me. Again, SO lucky, I know.

I mean, let me just point out that every single blood draw I had to get prior to chemo (so, yes, weekly blood draws for anyone counting) cost $24.60. And that is out-of-pocket because they were taking place in January and February. It adds up.

I realize that addiction is as much a disease as cancer. I do. You know there's a but coming right?

But...at some point, most people addicted to heroin made the CHOICE to take the drug.

Cancer isn't a choice, at least not for most. I suppose one could make the argument that smokers are choosing to inhale carcinogenic matter into their lungs and thus choosing to get lung cancer.

But for most cancers, it is not a choice. And yet...we pay and pay and pay for our treatments.

What I'm saying, what I already said in the fourth paragraph (does a single sentence count as a paragraph?) is that cancer patients should receive treatment regardless of ability to pay.


When you're battling cancer, you've got a lot on your plate. Paying for your treatment should be the last of your worries.