Patricia McAllister Medical Expense
Donation protected
Hi, I’m Patricia McAllister. In April of 2015 I was diagnosed with a rare form ofncolon cancer. On May 1st, I had colostomy surgery followed by two rounds of
Chemotherapy and 31 days of radiation treatments. The aggressiveness of the treatment meant I had to leave work for several weeks. After this I was able to go to work part time for a few weeks then was able to return to work full time by late August. I’ve exhausted all of my personal leave from work. Since the operation in May, one of the major consequences is that I am required to use a colostomy bag that gets changed two to three times a day. These are one of the many items that are not covered by our insurance. Although you might think this would be covered by insurance, and despite our doctor’s prescription for these bags, our insurance continues to REFUSE to cover them. They cost $200.00 per ten bags along with the other necessary medical items such as adhesive, wipes, Depends and time from work. Our calculations include about $60 per day for medical supplies. I will be required to use these colostomy bags until at least May of this year.
The out-of-pocket medical expenses for these bags as well as many other miscellaneous medical items have been a huge drain on our resources. Both my salary and my husband’s work as a lawn care professional (when he doesn’t work, he doesn’t get paid) cannot possibly keep up with the extra expenses that having colon cancer has burdened us with. My husband has to take time off from work to assist me with my illness. We have gone into debt. We were initially told that this phase would be over in November of last year (2015). That estimate got bumped to this January but now the doctors have decided that I will need more time to heal, so I will need these colostomy bags until at least May.
I am grateful that the operation and treatment have been successful. It has been a learning experience to understand the medical terms and to run up against the
insurance company restraints. We are in need of funds to complete the out-of-pocket expenses. I sincerely hope you can help us with whatever you can donate. Thank you!
Chemotherapy and 31 days of radiation treatments. The aggressiveness of the treatment meant I had to leave work for several weeks. After this I was able to go to work part time for a few weeks then was able to return to work full time by late August. I’ve exhausted all of my personal leave from work. Since the operation in May, one of the major consequences is that I am required to use a colostomy bag that gets changed two to three times a day. These are one of the many items that are not covered by our insurance. Although you might think this would be covered by insurance, and despite our doctor’s prescription for these bags, our insurance continues to REFUSE to cover them. They cost $200.00 per ten bags along with the other necessary medical items such as adhesive, wipes, Depends and time from work. Our calculations include about $60 per day for medical supplies. I will be required to use these colostomy bags until at least May of this year.
The out-of-pocket medical expenses for these bags as well as many other miscellaneous medical items have been a huge drain on our resources. Both my salary and my husband’s work as a lawn care professional (when he doesn’t work, he doesn’t get paid) cannot possibly keep up with the extra expenses that having colon cancer has burdened us with. My husband has to take time off from work to assist me with my illness. We have gone into debt. We were initially told that this phase would be over in November of last year (2015). That estimate got bumped to this January but now the doctors have decided that I will need more time to heal, so I will need these colostomy bags until at least May.
I am grateful that the operation and treatment have been successful. It has been a learning experience to understand the medical terms and to run up against the
insurance company restraints. We are in need of funds to complete the out-of-pocket expenses. I sincerely hope you can help us with whatever you can donate. Thank you!
Organizer and beneficiary
Sylvia McIntyre-Crook
Organizer
Gainesville, FL
Patricia McAllister
Beneficiary