Controlling Your Cancer Care Costs

The very last thing my husband and I were worried about when I was diagnosed with Stage IIIa breast cancer was how we would deal with the costs. When you’ve suddenly had your own mortality crammed into your face, the bills aren’t at the top of the list.

As the year+ of treatment wore on, however, and we travelled again and again from Reno to Houston for the best care possible, the bills did add up. We finally ended up taking out an equity line of credit against the house to help ease the cash crunch.

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Getting the right start to your cancer journey

I can’t overstate the importance of having the right documentation and organization in place when you get that first diagnosis of cancer. Much of what follows will reflect either chaos or planning, and your life could be in the balance accordingly.

You’ll be embarking on a dizzying and often confusing array of appointments to doctors, imaging technologists and others and keeping track of it all is a major task. Add to that tracking medications, side effects, doctors notes, clinical notes, insurance submissions and reimbursements. Too little, too late can make a tragic difference in the outcome if you allow yourself to become overwhelmed.

But with proper organization - and the loving support of a spouse, friend or family member - you can get through it with your sanity intact in addition to a greater sense of empowerment. Fortunately, a lot of new tools exist.

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