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Nana Needs Us!

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My grandmother was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of uterine cancer called carcinosarcoma on June 23, 2014. She is stage III. She had a complete hysterectomy, and she is still in the hospital. She will hopefully go home in a few days.

Luckily, she has health insurance that will help her pay for the 3 week stay. Unfortunately, just in time for her to start cancer treatments, it may be terminated.

Here is why:

Nana has worked for the same private practice specialty doctor for 33 years. She was the office manager and often was the only person who worked in the office taking care of everything from patient issues, to insurance issues, to billing. She washed the doctor’s dishes and bought him groceries. She got paid much less than she would have if she worked for a corporate medical facility, but always was loyal to her boss and said that he was a good doctor and that she loved the patients.

Yesterday, July 1st, 2014, she was told that her insurance is paid through the end of July and after that, if she doesn't come back to work, she needs to figure something else out. We, her family, understand that her boss is under no legal obligation to continue her health coverage, but his lack of compassion blindsided all of us. On top of this, he claimed that Nana--to reiterate, a woman who worked for him for 33 years--was actually incompetent at her job and that he did HER a favor by keeping her employed all these years.

Needless to say, Nana and all of us are devastated. Not only by the fear of how she will pay for these treatments that are needed to save her life, but also by the betrayal and callous words of someone she has known for so long.

My Nana is probably the best person I know. She is kind, compassionate, loyal, funny, caring, and full of light. She has helped me through some of the most difficult periods of my life. She let me live with her for free for three years when I went through a very tough financial and emotional situation. I cannot even express how much gratitude I have for her, and I cannot let her fall between the cracks and receive bottom of the barrell cancer treatment because she doesn't have the money.

I am trying to raise this money to help Nana get insurance. She has applied for disability but it will be some time before it comes through. Medicaid is an option, but I want a better option for my grandmother. I want her to get the best care she can, and myself and my family cannot afford it. If bankrupting ourselves would be enough, we would eagerly do it just for more time with her.

Turning to the Marketplace, the cheapest Obamacare plan that her doctors will accept is $525 a month. I am trying to raise $3,150 which would cover 6 months of insurance which is approximately how long her doctors expect her to be going through cancer treatment.

Any donation helps. If we can help her raise even a small fraction of this--1 month, 2 months, a half a month--it is better than where were starting from, and I just know that it will mean so much for her to see that people DO care. Not everyone is out for themselves.

UPDATE 7/8/14: We have reached our initial goal, so I have raised it in case more people want to donate. Cancer is very expensive as I'm sure everyone knows. Anything above goal will go to deductibles, copays, medication, and other out of pocket medical expenses.
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Donations 

  • Kimmie Stevens Berkowski
    • $15 
    • 9 yrs
  • ALK
    • $65 (Offline)
    • 10 yrs
  • Anonymous
    • $550 (Offline)
    • 10 yrs
  • Anonymous
    • $30 (Offline)
    • 10 yrs
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Organizer

Cassandra Senior
Organizer
Glenview, IL

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