Help Me Pay For Chemo
Donation protected
I’m Lydia, and I have been in the aviation industry for the past 30 years as a quality inspector. For the past several years, I had been living with back pain that would often land me in the emergency room, where I would be treated and released within a couple of days, and told to follow up with my doctor. My primary physician ignored my concerns, and refused to so much as send me for an MRI to dispel my worries. I was told to go see a sports medicine doctor, and told that simple lifestyle changes would solve all my ailments. Even while following her and the therapist’s instructions, my pain continued to grow worse, until it hit a point where I would be trapped in bed all day, unable to even sit up.
Finally, it all reached a head in 2017, after Hurricane Irma. The day after the storm, I had another flare up of back pain, and attempted to go to the hospital. The hospital that I regularly went to had no power, so they sent me to another hospital further away, which did not have my records. They started from ground zero with diagnostics testing, and I was shocked to hear that instead of being given medication and sent on my way again, as I was used to, I had to stay overnight. That night turned into over a week in the hospital, where I was subjected to nearly every possible diagnostic test.
The moment that the doctor entered my room and told me that awful word – cancer- my world came crashing down. I had hoped that it would be ‘simple’, in an early stage that could still be treated. Instead, I was told that I had stage 4 cancer. It has spread everywhere in my body – my liver, my ovaries, my spine, and the lymph nodes in my armpit. The mass that was pressing into my spine was likely the cause of my back pain for the past several years.
I was shocked. After all, how could this happen to me? I didn’t smoke, drink, or do drugs. I saw my doctor on a regular basis. How could they not have caught it before it reached this point? When I asked my primary care doctor, she simply said that they could not catch everything.
For the next 8 months plus, I would spend every Friday sitting in a chemo chair for 4 or more hours, and the remaining days of the week following up with doctors, having blood drawn, and trying to get a grasp on my life. I was put on medical leave by my doctor, and initially, my company continued to cover my insurance. I thought I would be back out to work shortly, but the doctor in charge of my cancer treatment could not sign off on my paperwork, even after I finished my IV chemo sessions, as the cancer still had not reached a point where he could say that treatment had been ‘successful’. At stage 4, the goal is no longer remission and getting better. Instead, it’s simply shrinking the tumors and gaining the ‘best’ possible health for what remains of my lifespan.
I was placed on permanent disability. I will likely never work again, let alone full time. Unfortunately, upon hearing this, my insurance dropped my coverage, and my disability coverage ended, as it was all through the company I had been working for. According to the insurance, if I was not actively working there anymore, I was no longer eligible for that coverage. I have been told by my treatment team that I would need to take medication for likely the rest of my life, which they estimate to be about 5 years.
have already spent the first year in treatment, and I likely will continue to spend the rest of my life in treatment. I will likely have to take medication for the rest of my life and have frequent follow-up visits, neither of which are things that I can properly afford without a full time job.
I am up to my eyeballs in medical debt, even with what I had thought was good health insurance. It has put a strain on my family. My husband has taken up extra shifts at work, often upwards of 60 hours a week and we are still barely scraping by, as more bills continue to pile up. My daughter postponed furthering her college education to help me with the daily tasks that I can no longer do on my own. We are one small emergency or cut in hours away from being unable to simply afford the cost of living in our state.
Anything that you can contribute to this is greatly appreciated, and if you can’t afford to donate, please share this.
Finally, it all reached a head in 2017, after Hurricane Irma. The day after the storm, I had another flare up of back pain, and attempted to go to the hospital. The hospital that I regularly went to had no power, so they sent me to another hospital further away, which did not have my records. They started from ground zero with diagnostics testing, and I was shocked to hear that instead of being given medication and sent on my way again, as I was used to, I had to stay overnight. That night turned into over a week in the hospital, where I was subjected to nearly every possible diagnostic test.
The moment that the doctor entered my room and told me that awful word – cancer- my world came crashing down. I had hoped that it would be ‘simple’, in an early stage that could still be treated. Instead, I was told that I had stage 4 cancer. It has spread everywhere in my body – my liver, my ovaries, my spine, and the lymph nodes in my armpit. The mass that was pressing into my spine was likely the cause of my back pain for the past several years.
I was shocked. After all, how could this happen to me? I didn’t smoke, drink, or do drugs. I saw my doctor on a regular basis. How could they not have caught it before it reached this point? When I asked my primary care doctor, she simply said that they could not catch everything.
For the next 8 months plus, I would spend every Friday sitting in a chemo chair for 4 or more hours, and the remaining days of the week following up with doctors, having blood drawn, and trying to get a grasp on my life. I was put on medical leave by my doctor, and initially, my company continued to cover my insurance. I thought I would be back out to work shortly, but the doctor in charge of my cancer treatment could not sign off on my paperwork, even after I finished my IV chemo sessions, as the cancer still had not reached a point where he could say that treatment had been ‘successful’. At stage 4, the goal is no longer remission and getting better. Instead, it’s simply shrinking the tumors and gaining the ‘best’ possible health for what remains of my lifespan.
I was placed on permanent disability. I will likely never work again, let alone full time. Unfortunately, upon hearing this, my insurance dropped my coverage, and my disability coverage ended, as it was all through the company I had been working for. According to the insurance, if I was not actively working there anymore, I was no longer eligible for that coverage. I have been told by my treatment team that I would need to take medication for likely the rest of my life, which they estimate to be about 5 years.
have already spent the first year in treatment, and I likely will continue to spend the rest of my life in treatment. I will likely have to take medication for the rest of my life and have frequent follow-up visits, neither of which are things that I can properly afford without a full time job.
I am up to my eyeballs in medical debt, even with what I had thought was good health insurance. It has put a strain on my family. My husband has taken up extra shifts at work, often upwards of 60 hours a week and we are still barely scraping by, as more bills continue to pile up. My daughter postponed furthering her college education to help me with the daily tasks that I can no longer do on my own. We are one small emergency or cut in hours away from being unable to simply afford the cost of living in our state.
Anything that you can contribute to this is greatly appreciated, and if you can’t afford to donate, please share this.
Organizer
Lydia Baksh
Organizer
Hialeah, FL