Thanks for sharing treatment.

My father felt as they got older it was smart to have two dual medical insurances carriers , so they would have a premo medical package . That same year, my mom got sick, with cancer it was all covered, and it was very, long treatment, Luckily, my dad had pay a very small amount out of pocket. If they did not have this dual medical insurance it would of taken a huge percentage of their savings, that they had saved for retirement and caused them hardship! In case in the newspaper from our city, a guy has cancer his prognosis was not good, he had six month left. The stat e insurance shot back a letter saying that they would not cover chemo, but they would cover the end of life shot , Obviously it was become one end of life shot is cheaper than chemo! What total insanity.

with no insurance, and no income you might get charity. If you have insurance you will pay 20-45% out of pocket and unless you are way above middle class this will kept you from taking care of yourself the way you need to keep the chemo and radiation from killing you, much less the cancer. It can be very hard on your body depending what is needed and your health. Of course at some point a person might decide not to go through any more treatment because of cost and what it is doing to them.

it shows that people with cancer lose more than their lifestyle they lose hope of nay dreams they should have insuarance cover at least half of the expense

I agree with Frustrated2- as my story echoes her friend's husbands' story- We have spent everything to keep him alive, (no life insurance) and the quality just wasn't there. You would think having the family member with you as long as possible is the best for everyone, but now always, especially with brain cancer. So sad but true for the remaining family, no funds, huge debt- I wish there was a better answer.

What is so sad is that the cost of treatment is so high. I think about how things are when there is a hurricane. Companies would love to gouge people for the cost of plywood and building supplies. There are greedy people who prey on others' misfortunes. Fortunately, there are laws in place to keep companies from gouging after storms. I wish there were these same type laws for medicine. Medicine is unnecessarily expensive. To me it is the biggest symbol of American greed. (Sad that the foxes are responsible for watching the hens in the hen house.)

Princess7, you would be surprised to know that this friend I described at one time made a very good six figure income and their kids went to good schools. The man I am talking about ran marathons, drank very little and was pretty much a health nut. However, brain cancer doesn't care what kind of shape your abs are in or if you don't eat a lot of red meat, evidently. The company he worked for was a 'supplier' of big builders and his was a sales job. He graduated from college and did not do manual work all of his life. HOWEVER, they spent. And when it appeared things were 'getting tight' after the big building boom, he was sure they would come back and he could make up for lost ground. Not wanting to worry his wife, he assumed more debt (against their well paid down mortgage) and didn't talk openly to her about having to tighten their belts. The company he works for is a smaller employer (less than 50 employees), one of the ones who will be heavily penalized by Obamacare and the ACA. They have tried very hard to keep this man covered during his illness, but as a smaller group his catastrophic illness made their rates rise. So, the deductible is $12,000 a year, hard to handle when you are making much less and are very ill. But back to the life insurance issue, along with the land line (home phone), dinners out, etc. he thought canceling life insurance was a safe bet since he was so...'healthy'. All of this was the perfect storm. There are so many tales on this site about people's situations and in a lot of cases, there is nothing to do but learn from them. I feel so horrible for this family, for the many, many loses and hard lessons and do overs that can't be re done. It is impossible to get in to all of this here. And so many directions this can spin off into the ditches. I do think we as Americans are in for a rude awakening regarding what we think is going to be 'better and more affordable' healthcare. The money has to come from some place. Get ready.

When my Father was diagnosed with Lung cancer, he told the doctor, 'You want me to go through Chemo & Radiation treatments, be sick as a &$%*ing dog for six months, ONLY to die anyway?' The exchange between 'patient & doctor' became quite colorful from one side. The end result was after five weeks in the hospital, hospice was finally arranged. The stay for Hospice was short, within five days Father was gone; just as he apparently wanted.

Had this happened TODAY or in the coming January, the choice of treatment would not be there. At sixty-three years of age the 'expense' vs pay-back would negate that aspect. These is what we have to look forward to.

This is why nearly all developed countries have universal health care, i.e. everyone is covered regardless of their employment or financial situation.

I thought the whole point of the Obamacare legislation was to take care of folks that could not afford the treatments and those that were uninsured? Am I living in an alternate universe (no, I am trying not to be sarcastic)? I am a two time breast cancer survivor but I was fortunate that I was employed and had very good health insurance that I got to carry in retirement. It is very unfortunate that this man cancelled his life insurance---I would never had done that as his family had this to protect themselves after his demise. I realize the futility in keeping a person alive but we are a nation "spare the cost" thinking and let's face it---who wants to die? I am so very sorry your friend's husband and family are going through this awful time but I do agree with you that sometimes it makes no sense to keep a person suffering through endless treatments and expense. Prayers go out to all of you and I pray for the man, that he has a pain free and dignified death. God bless!

My best friend's husband is 59 and has been diagnosed with glioblastoma, a very deadly form of brain cancer, for almost 3 years (they took him to the ER on Thanksgiving Day in November, 2010 after he suffered a seizure and life changed on a dime for them then). I lost my uncle to the same disease over 40 years ago when he was in his fifties but he passed away within months of diagnosis. At the time my friend's husband was diagnosed, they 'gave him' six months. I don't know whether to say fortunately or unfortunately he has survived this long. The specter of imminent death hanging over you and your family for this long is beyond the kind of stress most people can imagine. To make matters worse, his industry was tied to construction and after the big crash in our economy, they were already struggling mightily to keep things afloat. He dropped his life insurance several months before his seizure in an effort to cut 'unnecessary' costs and now they have nothing left financially as well as nothing coming in the form of future support for my friend, his wife, who is 56. She will be too young to collect any widow's benefits for social security and went back to work after many years of being a home maker with very little job experience and no college degree. This sound extremely harsh, but if you personally knew the situation you would understand my upcoming statement. It is time for him to pass. There is nothing the doctors can do to make him any better. Their insurance deductible annually is $12,000 even though his employer has tried to keep him working (which is minimal as his work is commissionable and he really isn't well enough to do his job). He has decided after three years of terrible illness, extremely expensive treatments and drugs that cannot save his life, and spending into the ground to get treatment to stop going to the doctor. His wife has told me that he sees 'no point anymore' as they cannot make him better and all that's happening is that bills are being run into the sky for his care with no end in sight (even though obviously you cannot live forever with a brain tumor). I reflect on my uncle, who did not have at the time the same technology available to him. Only heavy sedation and pain relief and then soon, he was gone. Many people would think 'well, he had this wonderful time with his family that he wouldn't have had'. But it has not been wonderful, not that there have not been some wonderful times. It seems that what is lost in the equation sometimes is that death is certainly inevitable and sometimes, it is our time to go. Families are wracked with guilt if they wish for a person to die - it is a taboo emotion veritably! - but medicine seems sometimes to go awry in what the point really is.

Hello my name is Jerilynn I need some advise what to do. I received a email from a very good friend who I dearly love to death he asked for help about one of his friends, this is what the he told me.
Jerilynn I have a friend who has cancer and needs help, His name is Ron Warner, he has 2 children one still with him is is a single guy. he lost his job a year and a half ago when the recession hit Blue is his favorite color, He is a great collector of antique bottles he has many, and he is one heck of a gutiar player. He had cancer 9 years ago and thought he had it beat, then 6months ago ...it came back and he now has over 100 tumors. he was going to have treatment but they told him there was no use about 2 weeks ago, but he has not given up we are looking for any programs out there that will treat him. His insurance canceled when he lost his job. So needless to say he has no job and not even enough money for his own funeral. His family is very poor and can not even help with the funeral services. So like a good friend I what to try and help him in anyway I can. So a benefit I thought would help him with his funeral expenses.
Please if there is anyway you could pass the word and help out that would be great.

Cancer has always been an expensive disease, but the related prices of the newest drugs are incrementing cost into treatment decisions to a degree rarely seen before. As a result, some doctors, patients, and even whole nations are beginning to reject the latest treatments, no matter how effective.

You don't mention that CLASS a stay at home program for cancer patients over 65, disabled or on medicaid or Medi-Cal
will soon kick in because of medical reform just enacted. Its good to talk to all ages and not really necessary to confine information just on worse case scenarios. If rich patients don't want to spend their money on health needs its to bad!