Financial Problems

I am sure that most of you that are taking care of someone with cancer is experiencing financial problems. I was just wanting to hear how others are coping with it. Today has been a really bad day. My husband has colon cancer for 3 years now. Mutiple surgeries since his diagnosis. I'm not sure that it was handled properly but too late now. He is in the hospital right now and has been in more than out for the past 3 months. We have a son that is a senior in high school. My husband is 49 and I am 47. I have lost my job. I car was repoed this month. We live on his social security disability it will pay the bills such as utilites and rent but nothing else. We can't get food stamps. He was just eligible for Medicare this past August. Life seems pretty impossible right now. Everything is going up in price. But of course not the amount of income we have. I just don't know what to do anymore. I have spent most of the afternoon crying. I am usually a strong person. I am a christian but right now it doesn't seem that anyone really cares. I just needed to get this off my chest. I can't take much more.

Tokakakat7,
My husband was also diagnosed with colon cancer, Stage IIIA, this past April. He too had surgery and then chemo, 12 sessions. We just finished up last Friday. Now we are waiting to have the further testing to see if it is anywhere else or still spreading.
We had many problems and still do now. He is 58, I am 48, have a son(17 yrs old) who is a junior in high school. Other son has just come home from Army (22 yrs old) and is working in fast food to help us out. I too lost my job (my boss asked for my resignation and said "Come back to work after your husband dies" DUH!!!). One of our resources has been our church. Not sure if you are in US or not, but check with the Catholic church in your area, they have an organization called SVDP that can assist with needs. Also check with the local American Cancer Society group near you. Call the ACS on the 800 #. There are also probably churches in the area that have programs for the needy (and honey, we are probably some of the most needy dealing with the big C). We ended up going to several churches in the area here that have food bank programs (they just asked for info like how many in the home and our address, phone # etc and gave us a bag of staples(PB, jelly, soup, cereal, canned vegs.etc) for each family member.
Just know that we are all out there going thru it too and can offer moral and emotional support for you. Just holler out when you need.
Anna Marie in Alabama

Punkinbaby,

Thank you for your advise, I will certainly give it a try. My husband just got out of the hospital after 11 days. They did a liver biopsy to make sure it was colon cancer in the liver this time and of course it is they also found a tumor on his rectal stump and he had that surgery a month and a half ago and the surgeon didn't bother to do a biospy then he said he didn't see any cancer in the small bowel or the rectal area. It had to have been there already. It is causing him to have fever at night. They also gave him two more pints of blood. They are trying to slow down his diarrhea so he can maybe gain weight and become stronger. He is 6'1" and weighs 115 lbs. If he can't build up any they won't be able to give him anymore chemo. And he will probably die within 7 months according to the doctor. And of course, the disability he gets now will stop because it doesn't go to the spouse, my son will receive his part because he is still in high school. My other 2 sons of course are grown now. Please Keep us in your prayers, and I will pray for you and your family.
God Bless You,
Kathy

Here is a suggestion for you. Check and see if your husband is eligible for a disability retirement. This way, it allows him to continue to get paid and in the event that his life is cut short by this disease, your family will continue to receive a check. I understand that no amount of money can make you feel better about your loss but it will keep you going financially.

Lastly, you should be in a position to get some type of government assistance for yourself and your son.

Hope this helps.

Peace and blessings.

J.

I am on the same page as you. My husband does not have an income and I have had to quit my job. I was working for my daughter, I was paid by an agency to be a home trainer for her two Autistic children. I mostly did play therapy. I just couldn't do it any longer because my husband didn't want to be alone.

He was diagnosed with Adenocarcinoma, because they found a 3cm. malignant tumor in his duodenum that had invaded the organs around it. They did a Whipple procedure July 27th. He had been sick for about a month the previous April and he was treated for a bleeding ulcer.

He never fully recovered and he got worse in June. All this time he did not have a job. Now he can't work because of all the complications he is having since the surgery.

We presently have no income. My family and my husbands family took up a collection at Christmas time and we will use that to pay our bills. We didn't use any of it for Christmas gifts. My church gave us a $100 gift card and I used that for groceries already. I have been scrambling around applying for Soc. Sec. and SS Disability. My husband is 63 and can take an early retirement. I am 59. We have a 16 year old son that is a junior in high school He has Alopecia and has lost all of his hair. He keeps asking for a human hair wig, but I just can't afford it right now. I have also started an application for Veteran's Disability. All of this takes 3 to 5 months to hear whether it has been approved. I will be able to get a SS check for December since it has been 6 months since he could work. We are also in the middle of a chapter 11 bankruptcy and have an $1800 a month payment and the lawyer says if we can't make the payment we better put our house up for sale or lose it. Two of my husbands brothers have been giving us money for it and I think this month will be the last month. I know that I will be getting a SS check probably some time during this month (Janurary), but it's not enough to live on and pay the bills. I applied for Medicaid and am told that I have it and can use it after I pay a spend down amount from the month of July of $2300 and then I can use the medicaid card. I have so much paper work that I feel like it snowing paperwork. I have a bill from a small local hospital that did the endoscopy proceedure in April and that is $11,000. I have paper work to do that helps to get a charity to pay for it....This is so hard going through this and then dealing with my husbands illness and running to hospitals and doctors. I feel so much like running away sometimes. So in answer to your question...yes, I am one of those people that are having financial problems. On top of all this I have bill collectors from the doctors calling and being as nasty as they can be. I still don't know where money is coming from to get us through until we can get more income. It's a bad day everyday it seems.

Sandy,
My heart goes out to you. Is the Chapter 11 bankruptcy in both you and your husband's names individually? If so, two things:
Number 1, in your financial situation, you might be able to convert your Chap. 11 bankruptcy to a Chap. 7 and still keep your house if you agree to continue making payments on it. Chap. 7 will wipe out all debts. I'm not certain if this will apply in your particular situation, so talk to your lawyer. Also, law changed recently.
Number 2, and this I am sure of, if you are in bankruptcy, bill collectors are forbidden from contacting you. They can get in big trouble if they continue to do so. So if they are still hounding you, tell them you are in bankruptcy and to leave you alone. If they do not, report them to your lawyer. I pray your situation improves.

Sandy,

I'm sorry to hear about the financial strain that you are having. I have a suggestion for you. I'm guessing that your husband is being treated someplace. Most hospitals have social service advocates that should be able to help you through all of the red tape of the social security office and the vets administration. I would suggest that you start there. As far as the bill collectors are concerned forget them. I know it is easy for me to say but trust me you need to not worry about things that you can't control. Your primary focus is on keeping your home and helping your husband be healthy.

My husband has been sick since June 2005 and thus far he is still drawing a salary. I know when this ends it will create some financial hardships but I am getting prepared to have the social workers start his paperwork now. Keep your head up and continue to check on the resources around you.

Pease and blessing
J

my husband and i also filed for bankruptcy as a result of his cancer. luckily, we've been able to hold onto our house so far. a couple of suggestions for you. call the american cancer society. they can lead you to other agencies that can help. before the medicare part d went into affect, my husband qualified for patient assistance programs with the pharmaceutical companies for his meds. although he had medicare parts a & b, he had no prescription coverage until this year. the social workers at the hospital where the patients get treatment can help quide you to programs. even the doctors' offices can help. ask about hardship with them. many hospitals where patients get their treament have hardship programs also. ask the social worker about them. if your husband was admitted to the hospice program (even the in home care one), their social worker can also guide you to different programs. there are some national and local agencies that help cancer patients. one you might want to look into is cancercare. good luck. if i find more, i'll post those.