In 2013, I was diagnosed with Diffuse Large B Cell Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.  I underwent a rigorous therapy called RCHOP which caused me to loose all of my hair followed by 16 Radiation treatments to my head and neck.  This year (2015), while following up to get the "ALL CLEAR" from the doctors, while doing CT Scan, they discovered that I had Breast Cancer.  When the first cancer struck, I had a critical insurance policy from work which gave me 15,000.00 dollars to meet my expenses while I was off work.  It was one month prior to my CT scan that I finally was able to pay off the last hospital bill from RUSH for the Lymphoma when I was re-diagnosed with Breast Cancer.  This time, the insurance did not pay off as it is a one time benefit for a lifetime.  I applied for a grant from work and was awarded $890.00 despite the fact that my pay check is 1,400.00 less than my normal pay and the expenses keep coming in.  Despite being told initially that I would only require the bilateral mastectomies which I had done in July, that I would now also need Chemotherapy.  The Taxotere and Cytoxin is much more toxic than the last Chemo I had, so that added at least another 15-20 weeks when I cannot work.  I was hoping to make ends meet some how, but it has become clear to me very quickly, that I will not be able to keep and live in my house or keep my car.  Big changes ahead for my physicially too as I try to move to a new place, either short sale or rent my house and pack and move all while undergoing chemo.  I don't like to ask for money, as I have always been the person who would much rather give than receive.  My years of working with Hospice patients has taught me that the material things we hold on to so tightly throughout our lives are not what matters in the end.  I just want to be comfortable and not have to worry about being able to pay my bills.  It is my sincere desire to return to work as a hospice nurse at the beginning of the new year, so I'm really hoping this will resolve quickly.  My fear is that despite having good credit up to now that it will soon be destroyed and being 62 years old, I am not old enough to retire or get Medicare.  I fall between the cracks, and despite working in the medical field my entire career, I am finding that in the final



analysis, that health care does not take care of it's own when it comes to medical expenses.  I would be extremely grateful and would want to "pay it forward" for other cancer survivors who, like me, are struggling with getting through the day to day and the constant worry of the physicial, emotional, spiritual and financial burdens that comes along with a cancer diagnosis.