breast cancer – Page 2

Some cancer grants cover chemo treatments received prior to being approved for the grant!

Several cancer grants actually allow you to use your awarded grant funds to cover chemo treatments and other cancer drugs that you received prior to being approved!

Some cancer grants allow you to use funds to cover treatments received up to 180 days prior to being approved for funding! So if you were approved for grant funding in say April, you could use your grant funds to cover chemo treatments or other drugs that you received all the way back to November.

All of the cancer grant foundations have different guidelines and rules that they follow as far as the amount of grant funding you receive and their “retro” rules.

Retro – (retroactive) Definition: to go back in time, how far the grant program will allow you to go back in time to use your benefits on treatments you have already received before you were actually “approved” for a grant award. Some grant programs will allow you to use your awarded grant benefits on treatments that you already received 30-180 days before you were actually approved for the grant program.

One of the grants that I was awarded was for $2,500.00, and I used $1,054.33 to cover chemo treatments that I received PRIOR to being approved for the grant and PRIOR to even applying to the program! See our foundation grant list below…

Each foundation will also provide you with a specific end date that you must use your grant benefits by or your benefits will expire and be unusable. Some foundations will allow you to reapply if you get to your benefit expiration date and you still need co-payment assistance.

If you are approved for a co-payment assistance grant the foundation will let you know your approved date, your grant award dollar amount, time period you have to use your co-payment assistance grant, and how many days you will be allowed to use the grant funds for retro services.

Read our page on Chemotherapy and drug grant overview (to Save you $$$) and after you are clear on how the grant process works go to our Foundation Grant List and start making some phone calls and see if you can put some money back in your pocket 🙂

Click on the compass below to check out our other free resources to help you be more comfortable during your cancer treatment:

The following products helped me during my cancer treatment:

(purchasing through our affiliate links, help support this site 🙂 )

Why you should know the generic & brand name of each cancer drug you are taking

The grants are available according to the type of cancer you have (example: breast cancer, colon cancer, thyroid cancer, etc.) and also available according to the type of chemo cancer treatment drugs you are receiving for your treatment.

Each chemo drug usually has a brand name and a generic name. Once it has been decided which chemo drugs you will receive as part of your treatment, you need to be familiar with both the brand name and generic name for each drug.

Chemotherapy may be given with a curative intent (which almost always involves combinations of chemo drugs), so you may be receiving several different chemo drugs at one time that interact well together to combat the cancer cells. So make sure you talk to your doctor and get a complete list of ALL the chemo drugs you are receiving so that you can apply for assistance for each drug you are receiving.

Some grant foundations only list drugs by the brand name and some only list them by their generic name in their computer system, so it is really important to use both names when you are calling to apply for co-payment grants.

You can look up the brand name and generic name of drugs at this web site: www.rxlist.com

As soon as you know the brand name and generic name of each drug you are receiving for treatment, you should apply for a co-payment assistance grant through whichever foundations that you are eligible to apply to based on the drugs you are receiving and the type of cancer you have (example: breast cancer, colon cancer, thyroid cancer, etc.) The link to our Foundation grant list is below.

Some foundations only accept a specific number of new applications each month, and some only take new applications during the first few days of each month, so you need to start applying right away, because you may qualify to apply for a certain grant because they are accepting applications for the specific drugs you are receiving and for the specific type of cancer you have (example: breast cancer, colon cancer, thyroid cancer, etc.), however they may tell you that they have already met the limit of applications that they are accepting for those drugs this month, so you would have to wait until the next month. So that is why you want to start calling on the grants right away and make notes on each grant that you call on so that you can call back if necessary the next month.

The following are the cancer treatment drugs I was given, I also listed my out of pocket co-pay amount that I was billed for each drug for each of my six chemo treatments:

Neulasta Injection: $346.13 (my co-pay out of pocket amount)

Taxotere (generic name- Docetaxel): $694.02 (my co-pay out of pocket amount)

Adriamycin (generic name- Doxorubicin): $8.10 (my co-pay out of pocket amount)

Cytoxan (generic name- cyclophosphamide): $6.08 (my co-pay out of pocket amount)

Check out our chemotherapy and drug grant overview page to learn more

Also, check out our Foundation grant list page

Click on the compass below to check out our other free resources to help you be more comfortable during your cancer treatment:

The following products helped me during my cancer treatment:

(purchasing through our affiliate links, help support this site 🙂 )

Your health insurance may cover the cost of your wig!

Your health insurance may offer an allowance that can be used towards wigs and other head covering items such as scarves, cotton sleeping caps, beanies, hats, and wig liners.

My health insurance offered a one time lifetime benefit of $350, so I used every penny of it toward my two wigs, several head scarfs, sleeping beanies (your hairless head will be very cold at night, especially in winter months), hats, and outside winter beanies.

Locate and Read– The Summary of Benefits and Coverage Disclosure from your Health Insurance provider and get familiar with your health coverage and benefits. If you do not have this booklet, call your health insurance provider and request one be mailed to you.

(purchasing through our affiliate links, help support this site 🙂 )

Check your Summary of Benefits or call your insurance company and ask if your health insurance offers a benefit for “Head Prosthesis” due to medical hair loss. If so, then you can bill the wigs to your insurance.

Ask your insurance company the process you should use to get reimbursed for your wig and head covering purchases (Head Prosthesis), since most wig shops are not set up to bill health insurance companies directly.

I purchased my wig and other head coverings and got a receipt that I could submit to my health insurance company along with the claim form.

Call and request a claim form from your health insurance company and then note on the claim “Hair loss due to chemotherapy”, the billing code I used was #561 (ask your health insurance if this is the correct code that you should use before mailing in your claim form so that there is not a delay in getting reimbursed).

Check out our wig resource page for more info on wigs.

Check out our chemotherapy and drug grant overview page for more info on how to save $$$ on your out of pocket cancer costs.

Click on the compass below to check out our other free resources to help you be more comfortable during your cancer treatment:

The following are products that I found helpful during my cancer treatment:

(purchasing through our affiliate links, help support this site 🙂 )

Neulasta Injection can help you get approved for a cancer grant

The very expensive Neulasta Injection is often given the day after chemotherapy treatment in order to stimulate your bone marrow to make your white blood cells recover more quickly from the effects of the chemo drugs and to help ward off infections.

This injection can cause bone pain in your legs, arms, lower back, and chest. The bone pain should lessen each time you receive the injection. The injection is usually given at least 24 hrs after chemotherapy to stimulate the growth of new, healthy, white blood cells.

If you are receiving the Neulasta Injection you can apply for cancer grants to help offset your out of pocket cost on this drug and possibly on the other cancer drugs you are receiving too! See below for example…

EXAMPLE: Basically let’s say you have breast cancer, but the foundation you called is not accepting any more new breast cancer applications this month, or they are not accepting any more new applications for the specific cancer drugs you are receiving, you can still apply if they are accepting new applications for CIN (chemo induced anemia).

You would qualify to apply as CIN if you are receiving (or did receive) the very expensive neulasta injection.

And, because you got your “foot in the door” with your CIN application with this foundation and if approved through your CIN application, you very well may also be able to get ALL your other cancer related drugs covered (as long as they are on that foundations approved list, even if they are not specifically accepting new applications for those drugs any longer that month, and as long as your health insurance paid a portion of the cost, which left you with a co-payment).

Read our page on Chemotherapy and drug grant overview (Save $$$) for more detailed information on cancer grants and our Foundation grant list page.

Click on the compass below to check out all of our free resources to help you be more comfortable during your cancer treatment:

Day one of Chemo

Image result for chemo room

About 9:45 am we headed over to the chemo room and got started. The nurses started with taking my temperature (which was fine), and my blood pressure (which was elevated, duh!!)…… I don’t know why they bother with that one 🙂

Then they inserted the IV, they found a good vein after only two tries.

They first started me on a saline drip, then started the first drug bag, I didn’t feel a thing. The next bag was a red solution from their fridge, at the time this bag started going in, my eyes started getting really tired and dry and my contacts got really uncomfortable. My nose started getting stuffy and I started sneezing a lot.

I called my husband who was out grabbing us lunch and asked him to run home and pick up my glasses so I could take my contacts out.

After the red bag they started another clear bag and soon after my husband returned I was all done!

There were 10 chairs in the chemo room and most of the time that I was there (about 3 hrs total), most of the chairs were full. Most with women, only two with men the entire time I was there, everyone was quite a bit older than me. Many women were in their 60’s-80’s. Very sad, at that point in your life to have to be doing chemo in your retirement, they should be off on a vacation!

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Everyone sits in a big room, very similar to a blood donation room at the blood bank. It is nice because you are close enough to your neighbors to chat and get some good advice and such.

Some people bring books, chat, nap, listen to music, or do paperwork. Bring a big water cup and some snacks.

Actress and photographer Kris Carr has documented her journey through several best selling books since finding out her liver was covered with cancerous tumors. Her cancer tips are candid and informative, yet very warm and real.

She documents her interactions with family, friends, and doctors through her journey. Kris Carr is a very “say it like it is” kind of gal so she is very easy to relate to, these are my top pick cancer tip books!

(purchasing through our affiliate links, help support this site 🙂 )

To help ease your burden as you go through cancer treatment we have a lot of resources available to help with out of pocket costs for hospital tests, chemotherapy cost, chemotherapy side effects, and radiation treatment costs.

Click the compass below to check out all the FREE Resources available on CancerButterfly.com to help you through your cancer treatment:

Steps leading up to my Breast Cancer diagnosis

Image result for footprints in the sand

I first noticed the lump in my right breast while on vacation over the summer with my family. Once we returned home, I made an appointment with my doctor.

They were certain it was NOT cancer but sent me to get a mammogram just to be sure. The mammogram came back with abnormalities. They did an ultrasound that same day on the breast.

They told me they wanted me to come back for a biopsy the next week, they kept saying they were sure it was not cancer, “I was too young, it didn’t run in my family, I don’t fit the profile, blah, blah, blah…”

I went back the next week and had the biopsy on a Wednesday and by Friday afternoon ten minutes before needing to leave to pick up my daughter at kindergarten my doctor’s office called with the horrible news…… I do indeed have breast cancer.

And let me tell you….. the world stopped….. you hear of people saying the “world just stopped”, and it really did….dead silence, I had to remind myself to breathe…

I was and still am shocked! I had my first baseline mammogram at age 35 and it was fine. I was 40 years old when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I am now happy to say I am a seven year breast cancer survivor 🙂

Click the compass below to check out all the FREE Resources available on CancerButterfly.com to help you through your cancer treatment:

Save money on out of pocket radiation treatment copays

As you go through several weeks of radiation during your cancer treatment you will accumulate a lot of various individual bills. I had 7 weeks of daily radiation and it seems like the radiation department billed my insurance every few days.

The costs of radiation can REALLY add up! Usually your health insurance company will have negotiated the rates on these services with the radiation department, but you may still have quite a bit to pay out of pocket on your co-pays.

The amount I owed the radiation department for my out of pocket co-pay cost for all my radiation expenses was $1,448.89.

Thankfully, I learned how to apply for a discount on these costs and luckily was able to receive a 57% discount off of that amount, so then I only owed $619.43!

When you also have out of pocket co-pays and deductibles to pay for chemotherapy, MRI, mammograms, Pet scans, blood work, surgery, etc., all the out of pocket costs can really start to add up! So anywhere you can save money helps a lot! Thankfully, there is financial help for cancer patients!

There is financial assistance for cancer patients available and grants for cancer patients to help offset chemotherapy cost and other out of pocket copays and deductibles. I am a breast cancer survivor and I can show you how you can apply for discounts on YOUR cancer treatment related radiation costs, hospital bill co-pays, and chemotherapy treatment co-pays that will save you MONEY!

Why a Meal Train is important

Meal train is a great FREE resource for anyone going through cancer treatment or any extended medical treatment. It provides a way for family and friends to help the cancer patient during a time when many people want to help but aren’t sure what to do that would be helpful.

The online meal train calendar is very user friendly and easy to use. The person organizing the meal train can insert which dates the patient would like meal deliveries. They can also specify a requested delivery time and list any food allergies. Then the meal train is emailed out to the family and friends of the cancer patient and they can then sign up electronically through the link in the email from mealtrain.com and pick a date to deliver that works with their schedule.

As people sign up to deliver a meal they can also note what they will bring for the meal so that others who are delivering don’t bring the same dish. The electronic meal train site also sends a reminder email to the person delivering the meal the week and the day before each scheduled delivery.

It is a great way for family and friends to have a quick visit with the patient as they are delivering the meal. A friendly face, a hug, and a short visit will do wonders for someone going through cancer treatment. Some days it may be the only contact the patient has with the outside world, so it also gives them something to look forward to each day.

Save money on out of pocket Hospital bill co-pays

As you go through cancer treatment you will accumulate a lot of various individual bills for hospital services. These services may include lab work, MRI, PET scan, echocardiogram, ultrasounds, X-rays, Mammograms, biopsies, genetic tests, surgery, and any other large test performed at the hospital.

The costs of all these tests can REALLY add up! Usually your health insurance company will have negotiated the rates on these services with your hospital, but you may still have quite a bit to pay out of pocket on your co-pays.

The amount I owed the hospital for my out of pocket co-pay cost for all my breast cancer related hospital expenses was $1,594.88. Thankfully, I learned how to apply for a discount on these costs and luckily was able to receive a 54% discount off of that amount, so then I only owed $726.22!

When you also have out of pocket co-pays and deductibles to pay for chemotherapy and radiation treatment, all the out of pocket costs can really start to add up! So anywhere you can save money helps a lot! Thankfully, there is financial help for cancer patients!

If your “Fairy Godmother” could give you cancer treatment advice

She would say….

“You must let your friends and family help you whenever possible during your treatment. This is the time to take friends and family up on any offers of help!”

If a friend or family member says…..”What can I do to help?”…. You NEED to say “I could use help with…”

Have a list ready of things that you know you could use help with.

Here are a few suggestions of things that others could DO to help you while you go through treatment:

Deliver a meal or two through your meal train
Clean your bathrooms, vacuum & dust, or clean your entire house 🙂
Do your family’s laundry
Mow your lawn or weed flower beds
Water your plants
Pick up your groceries
Babysit your kids so you can take a nap
Wash your car

If things are in order around your home, you will feel less stressed and be more at peace which will greatly help you through your treatment.

The further along you go into treatment the more tired you will be and the less energy you will have, so it is really a good idea to let people start helping you right away because if you wait until you really need it you may be way too tired to even try to schedule the help you need at that point. Better to get in a good schedule of receiving help from the beginning of treatment so that friends and family can slowly work helping you into their own personal schedules too so it is easier on everyone.

Bottom line is…..your friends and family will want to help you and you NEED to let them help. It is good for all involved because you need the help and it will let them give you the gift of helping and give them something to do that will really help you.

Cancer Butterfly has a lot of FREE Resources available to help you get through cancer treatment more comfortably.