Women With Metastatic BC Report "Catastrophic" Financial Effects

Thank you to BCO for posting an article about financial toxicity. Of note, even the 65% who do have insurance suffer this toxicity. I didn't even know it was a “thing" until I started browsing that term and reading articles. People with insurance use up their savings and end up selling their homes, or even going bankrupt. It is not just co-payments and deductibles — which are huge — it is lost work time, inability to work, spouse needing to take unpaid time off work, travel expenses for treatment, all the extra OTC and supplemental things we have to pay for to deal with side effects, paying for help or take-out food because we are too tired to do it ourselves. I read those articles about financial toxicity and thought, oh my gosh, that's me. I have to sell my beloved home and downsize after years of being financially drained because of cancer. (My spouse has a life-altering chronic condition as well.) The emergency funds are used up and the emergency continues. Our last vacation was our LAST vacation. It's painful because with a shortened life, I ought to be having more fun, not less.

Help with medical bills is only part of the answer. (I'd love to see additional suggestions and resources in your BCO article.) I think that just as the psychosocial needs of cancer patients have been recognized, the financial difficulties and stresses need to be recognized. If we are treated well, we have social workers, psychologists, and support groups available to us to help with the psychosocial issues. I believe cancer patients should also have financial advisors available to them to deal with the financial fallout. This help, given early, could be proactive as it would recognize typical problems and help patients make a plan. I sought this help out myself, but wish I had seen sooner where the road was leading.

Finally, I have to say that just seeing that this topic is starting to be discussed, and have papers presented at cancer conferences, has helped me feel a little better. It helps me see that my family is not suffering financially because we have been stupid or lazy. I'm not quite so bewildered at the difference between how things were supposed to be, how they are for non-cancer friends and family, and how they are for us. And I see that we are not alone. P.S. I know I am lucky to have the resources I do, and that there are others worse off. But still.

Shetland,

I agree wholeheartedly.

Tina