Mary's Journey

August 13, 2015, Mary met with Dr. Sharma, an oncologist there at KU Westwood. She wanted Mary to come in for an MRI. On Friday, August, 14, she went for the MRI.  On August 20, she went for an ultrasound and met with Dr. Amin, her breast surgeon. It was she that called Friday, August 20, at 4 pm, to tell me Mary she had breast cancer. There were two people in the Public Safety office that helped Mary get through the panic attack. Mary also called her partner, Tom and he left work and brought someone with him who could drive Mary's car home. Ever since then it feels like all Mary does is wait for a doctor to call, meet with a doctor, or have some kind of procedure.

The mastectomy was scheduled for September 16th, but the appointment was cancelled because her sodium was low.  The mastectomy was rescheduled for September 25th. Since the TMJ issue didn't count toward her insurance, her out-of-pocket expenses for the surgery was around $4500 that year. Total medical expenses that year were around $8700. May paid for these bills with loans and credit cards. As a result of the double mastectomy, Mary developed lymphedema. This means that Mary is carrying around an extra liter of fluid in each arm. This happens because during the mastectomy they took out her lymph glands. As a result of the surgery, Mary also suffered a torn rotator cuff.  

On September 26 2016, Mary was released from the University of Kansas Hospital. Her first chemo treatment was at the KU Westwood Campus on October 22nd.  Mary had not been so scared in her life. Jamie, one of the members of the KUPD security team was there at the front door and provided Mary with constant support and encouragement.  She could not have made it without her.  A friend would pick Mary up every Friday (before the sickness set in) and she'd go get her Neulasta shot. Mary became extremely ill on Thanksgiving Day and ended up in Menorah Medical Center for 4 days. The mouth-sores from the chemo were so bad that she could not swallow. She was dehydrated and had some kind of infection. 

On the following Sunday, she got out of Menorah and finished her first round of chemo and that started in 2016.  Medical expenses for 2016 ran around $6300, but the hospital and doctors let Mary set up payment plans. Everything else was on credit cards with a loan to pay off for 2015 expenses. She finished her second round of chemo and faced radiation.  Mary almost didn't do her last week of radiation. Radiation burns from the inside out.  Mary called her nursing team and told them that she just couldn't do it anymore. The said that they wanted her to come back in so the doctor could take a look at her and see what she says. By this time they were giving her booster doses. Mary's doctor came in on her day off to see her and was able to convince her that she had the strength to do one more week. When she finished, she got to ring the big brass bell and her daughters were there with flowers and balloons. Mary had so many angels helping her. Mary was able to return to work September of 2016.  

Mary was on shared leave for a while as well as FMLA.  All of a sudden, she received a phone call in August of 2016, which was about 6 weeks after the last round of radiation.  She was informed that her shared leave had ran out.  From August to October 7th, 2016, Mary was not getting paid and ran out of money.  She paid for all expenses to include all necessities needed to survive using credit cards.  Any time Mary had to take off for doctor's appointments or physical therapy, she was not getting paid from work.  However, now she is on Medicare and the out-of-pocket deductibles are $1,200.00, but the prescription coverage is not very good.  None of the procedures or medications have been approved by Medicare yet, leaving Mary struggling to find ways to pay for things.  
 
At this time, Mary believes she owes KU Hospital around $4,572.00.  However, she has been unable to confirm the exact amount and it could be much higher.   

With one credit card loan to pay off, and one of her credit cards almost at its limit, she reached out to one of her "blue angles."  Luckily Mary was able to locate some cash she had hidden away that she could use to cover her utilities and gas.  

Mary is currently struggling to pay medical bills, the overhead costs for her house as well as all necessities needed to survive.  Please take a moment and think about donating to this strong, amazing and beautiful woman! Any and all donations of any amount are greatly appreciated!

Thank you