Giving Back
Denise Ward
The physical, mental and spiritual impact of a cancer journey can be overwhelming. So, too, can be the financial challenges of a cancer diagnosis.
Imagine a young woman, a niece, who learns of the news of her favorite aunt’s diagnose of glioblastoma. The young woman, who is a wife, a mother and a daughter, appears to put on a strong front for others as she watches her aunt struggle to survive. Fast forward a few months when she unexpectedly loses her father to a heart attack after he had been in remission for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. A month later, her aunt loses her battle to cancer.
After experiencing such tragic loss and as she begins to get back to some sense of normalcy, she finds a lump in her own breast during a routine health examination.
“This cannot be happening,” she says. “I am too busy. I have an active daughter and I have just lost my father and aunt!”
She immediately goes into survival mode and refuses to give up. She is determined to do everything possible to win this battle against cancer.
I share this story because it is a reminder that cancer does not discriminate. It does not look for people who are physically, mentally and financially capable of dealing with disease. As those with cancer can testify, it can strike anyone at any time.
When a patient is diagnosed and survives their battle with cancer, they do not wish the same battle upon anyone else. They are a changed person, and all for the better. They learn to laugh more, take time to enjoy life more and remember others who are less fortunate. They want to express their gratitude and help pay it forward to others who receive a similar diagnosis.
Cancer changes a person’s life dramatically. Daily concerns become secondary to completing all the tests, doctor visits and paperwork that are needed to plan and undergo the cancer treatment. And once treatment starts, the patient’s attention almost always turns to questions about finances.
While cancer treatment is expensive, it can also affect a family’s finances in many ways, such as:
- Lost wages for the patient if they are unable to work while undergoing treatment
- Lost wages if the primary caregiver is unable to work while caring for their loved one
- Increased insurance premiums
- Travel expenses getting to and from treatment, doctor appointments and tests
- Unexpected costs such as special foods, comfort items and over-the-counter medications a patient might need to aid with the side effects of treatment
All these costs come at a time when the family has neither the emotional energy nor the time to deal with additional financial stressors. And if financial stresses were already in place prior to a diagnosis, they can be devastating to a family following a diagnosis.
By supporting the Baptist Memorial Healthcare Foundation’s Cancer Patient Assistance Fund, your donations will help thousands of patients fighting cancer in the Mid-South who find themselves facing these obstacles while fighting the battle of their lives. Through your generous gifts, you are partnering with us to help remove as many of these barriers as possible so that patients and families are better equipped to concentrate on healing and winning the battle against cancer.
To donate today, visit bmhgiving.org/CancerCare, or call 901-227-7123
