3 February 2012

Well, That Struck a Chord....

Evidently my 'rant' yesterday struck a chord with many people.  I received a lot of positive feedback from it.  Today I'm going to give you a big dose of cancer reality:

I can't give you the whole picture because I do not have all my bills in, and frankly, it's too much to add up.  As you know, insurance companies negotiate with providers to lower the 'retail' rate for medical services.  Here's an idea what having breast cancer can add up to for someone who has no insurance.  These are the retail rates.


Diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound $707
Biopsy and labwork $1,303 + $230 + $420 + $761
2nd opinion from another plastic surgeon $420 (not covered)
Mastectomy $12,306 + $2,362 + $405
One session chemo $6,723
Follow up Neulasta shot after chemo $5,488  (Yes, that is correct over $5,000 for a single shot)
Remember, I had four chemo sessions.
So up to this point, the retail price of saving my life is about $70,000
I do not yet have ANY BILLS from my plastic surgeon.  (Probably wise as reconstruction seems like a frivolous expense at this point.  Much better that I get used to the new foobs and can't imagine life without them before I have to pay for them.)
This does not include prescriptions (steroids, painkillers, antibiotics, anti-nausea medication, tamoxifen.)

Even with good insurance we will have $15K or so out of pocket.  Part of that is because we switched insurance three times in the last year because of Dan's employment status, and partly because of the new fiscal year for deductibles.  (Yo, if you are going to get cancer, do it in January so you can get all your deductibles in under one year.)

Dan works hard and makes a good living.  We have economic resources.  We have good private insurance.  I had plenty of community support and family help during my surgery and treatments. We feel some of the pinch from my unforeseen medical bills.  Cancer sucks and the treatments we have for it suck worse and I can't begin to imagine the terror a lump raises for an uninsured single mother. And this is one small drop in the bucket of pain for the 30% or so at the bottom of our economic spectrum.  It doesn't have to be a catastrophic cancer diagnosis.  There are plenty of horror stories of mothers who buy food or clothes for their kids instead of their own asthma medication and die because of it.  Fathers who ignore toothaches or can't afford the antibiotics to fight a dental infection that turns septic.  What is wrong with our country when basic health care is out of reach for 30% of our population? (Yes I pulled those numbers out of my ass, but you get my point.)

I've given some thought over the past six months as to how I can give back.  I'm not one to stitch pink pillows or call a recently diagnosed stranger and tell them I'm a survivor and they can beat this.  I'm going to look for a program/organization/network that supports the most marginalized segments of our society as they deal with health crises and jump in there.  And if I can't find one, I'll start one.

In the meantime, do as I do and support organizations who provide solutions for real people.  Cancer doesn't care if you are liberal or conservative, does it?