A December 2009 study from the Association of Oncology Social Work confirmed the brutal truth. The cost of a cancer diagnosis is a heavy weight to bear. They surveyed hundreds of cancer patients, their caregivers and oncology social workers. They found that over half of the patients surveyed admit that their focus on recovery is impacted by the stress of paying for that recovery.
I found a few other tidbits interesting. Like much of the cancer experience, concerns over the financial aspects keep us isolated. The survey showed that most patients agree there is economic stress and concern yet only around a third of them will seek out their oncology social worker for help. On top of that, the survey showed that many caregivers are withholding the cold hard financial facts from the patient in order to protect their loved ones from the ugly truth. This comes from a loving place, truly, but also adds to their own already hefty burden.
Here’s the silver lining….there are people who are capable of lightening both the load and the mood. Your oncology social worker can help in a multitude of ways if you only will work up the courage to ask. Another bit of hard-earned encouragement shows that patients who have to return to the cancer rodeo tend to have a better handle on the process. Turns out that if you have to wade through the muck again; you’ll know who, what and how to navigate through the insurance company system, make life easier at the pharmacy and anticipate the impact on the bank account. We’ll put this under the heading of practice makes perfect and call it good.
The topic is even more complicated when you factor in the odds of success of a given therapy. Survival and quality of life both have a price tag yet those amounts are incredibly personal and individual. It’s a sad day when finances have to enter the decision making process. Yet, it is an important discussion to have with your medical team so that all considerations are on the table. Your clinician can help you determine the relative value of your treatment choices, if necessary. It goes without saying that there is a lot on the line here. An estimated quarter of patients will exhaust their life savings during a cancer episode and too many patients are choosing to deny treatment for financial reasons. Survivorship has its own set of challenges with questionable insurance eligibility, continued surveillance and secondary diagnoses.
In the midst of it all, I know that asking for help is hard to do. Sometimes just stopping long enough to think about what kind of help you need is enough to make you lose momentum. It’s nearly always worth the time for everyone involved so reach out and have someone help you carry the load. You have to have these tough conversations. You have to find the big and small costs that can be avoided, reduced or negotiated. It’s hard to fight with money issues on your back but it is also difficult to climb up the hill of recovery against a landslide.