JANA M. HOLMES
SURVIOR
WHAT ABOUT ME?
I am a single mother of three, grandmother of ten. I was diagnosed with stage three Breast Cancer in August 2008. For someone who thought they were in good health this came as quite a shock. Especially due to the fact that the tumor was very aggressive and grew extremely fast.
In the blink of an eye without any warning my life was completely changed. Utrasounds, Biopsies, Chemo treatments, PICC line flushing, Surgery, Radiation, Breast reconstruction. It is a very scary time, not knowing if you will win this life test or not.
As scary as having Cancer can be, trying to maintain the quality of life you have achieved by working hard every day is the worse.
I started working my senior year of high school and I've been in the workforce for several years. But after I applied for Social Security, I was told my condition did not require me to stop working. So now on top of fighting for my life, I have to fight for the benefits I was told would be there for me when I needed them. I think Social Security thinks if they make you wait long enough you'll die so they won't have to pay you.
Being a single mother and grandmother it was never easy; but by working hard I built a comfortable life. I could pay my bills, drive a good reliable car and treat my grand kids from time to time.
Now I am in danger of losing all the hard work I have put in over the years to build a decent life because I had the misfortune to be the one in four that gets Cancer.
There are millions of fund raisers for Cancer research, for foundations to help with your medications, etc., and that is all needed and very much appreciated. But what about the actual individual who has the disease? Where can we find financial help?
With all the money that is raised in the fight for Cancer why would the patient be overlooked? After spending hour after hour on the internet looking for charitable foundations, organizations, etc. I found very few that help the individual directly with a monetary gift. There are a few that will pay your health insurance premium for a brief period of time. There are a few that will help with medications for a time. You can get transportation help, home care help, etc.
Why not try to help the patient keep the quality of life that they have worked so hard to build. The doctors tell you to stay postive, eat healthy, don't stress. How do they expect you to do that if you don't know if you can pay the rent next month or wake up each morning praying that your car will still be there?
What if a few of those Cancer funding dollars were diverted to the actual patient. We are in the fight of our lives literally. Why do we also have to fight so hard to live our lives comfortably when we win?
I would like to hear your comments or suggestions.
In the blink of an eye without any warning my life was completely changed. Utrasounds, Biopsies, Chemo treatments, PICC line flushing, Surgery, Radiation, Breast reconstruction. It is a very scary time, not knowing if you will win this life test or not.
As scary as having Cancer can be, trying to maintain the quality of life you have achieved by working hard every day is the worse.
I started working my senior year of high school and I've been in the workforce for several years. But after I applied for Social Security, I was told my condition did not require me to stop working. So now on top of fighting for my life, I have to fight for the benefits I was told would be there for me when I needed them. I think Social Security thinks if they make you wait long enough you'll die so they won't have to pay you.
Being a single mother and grandmother it was never easy; but by working hard I built a comfortable life. I could pay my bills, drive a good reliable car and treat my grand kids from time to time.
Now I am in danger of losing all the hard work I have put in over the years to build a decent life because I had the misfortune to be the one in four that gets Cancer.
There are millions of fund raisers for Cancer research, for foundations to help with your medications, etc., and that is all needed and very much appreciated. But what about the actual individual who has the disease? Where can we find financial help?
With all the money that is raised in the fight for Cancer why would the patient be overlooked? After spending hour after hour on the internet looking for charitable foundations, organizations, etc. I found very few that help the individual directly with a monetary gift. There are a few that will pay your health insurance premium for a brief period of time. There are a few that will help with medications for a time. You can get transportation help, home care help, etc.
Why not try to help the patient keep the quality of life that they have worked so hard to build. The doctors tell you to stay postive, eat healthy, don't stress. How do they expect you to do that if you don't know if you can pay the rent next month or wake up each morning praying that your car will still be there?
What if a few of those Cancer funding dollars were diverted to the actual patient. We are in the fight of our lives literally. Why do we also have to fight so hard to live our lives comfortably when we win?
I would like to hear your comments or suggestions.
