Category: breast cancer

How to save money on chemotherapy treatment

Chemotherapy treatment can be VERY expensive depending on what type of insurance you have and how much your health insurance is contracted to cover of your chemotherapy treatment.

Chemotherapy grants and drug co-pay programs can help!  Chemotherapy grants and drug co-payment programs have specific time deadlines and depending on the program may only go retro for 30-360 days from your “approved” date, so it is VERY important to apply for these right away.

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

The following are all drugs I received as part of my breast cancer treatment:  Evista (hormone blocker), Emend (very expensive anti-nausea drug), Anzemet (chemo drug), Adriamycin (chemo drug), Cytoxan (chemo drug), Taxotere (very expensive chemo drug), Neulasta Injection (to ward off infection, very expensive!).

Actual cost for above chemo/drug expenses:  $42,690.19

Contracted amount my insurance paid:  $3,489.70

My “out of pocket” cost:  $4,402.74

Amount I saved on my “out of pocket” cost by applying for cancer grants and co-payment programs:  $2,076.17

I could have saved thousands of dollars more had I found out about these programs earlier in my treatment….ugh!!

Amount I actually paid out of pocket on my chemo:  $2,326.57

So, you can see it is well worth it to apply for cancer grant programs!  And saving on your chemotherapy treatment is just one piece of the savings puzzle, you can also save on your radiation treatment out of pocket costs, and on your hospital out of pocket costs!

Why keeping your cancer medical paperwork organized is important

Once you are diagnosed with cancer it is very frightening and overwhelming to just process all the medical information you are receiving, not to mention everything you need to now keep track of as far as paperwork.

It will be much easier for you if you just start out organized from the beginning of your treatment (or at least start where you are now) if at all possible.  I remember once I started and continued through chemotherapy for breast cancer, it got more and more difficult to concentrate on things like reading a book, watching a movie, or focusing on any kind of paperwork.

Keeping things simple and having a specific place for everything will make things much easier and you will be able to stay on top of your paperwork much better and find what you need when you need it if you are organized.

There are several money saving programs available to help cancer patients with their cancer treatment related out of pocket co-pays.  These programs require specific information from your medical paperwork (EOB’s – Explanation of Benefit) forms from your health insurance regarding each of your medical visits in order for them to determine your out of pocket expenses.  Once you have all your information in order you will be ready to apply for Cancer Grants and Cancer treatment medical discounts.

Dental tips for chemotherapy treatment

Luckily I had a dental cleaning scheduled just before I had my first chemotherapy treatment and my dentist gave me a lot of great advice on how to take care of my gums and teeth during my chemotherapy treatment to treat my breast cancer.

He explained that chemotherapy can be very hard on our gums especially due to many of the chemotherapy drugs causing dry mouth.  Dry mouth can lead to a host of dental problems including gum disease if dry mouth is left untreated!

I also found that my teeth and gums became VERY sensitive during chemotherapy treatment and unfortunately this lasted for several months after I completed chemotherapy.  Fortunately, there are many things you can do to treat dry mouth, sensitive teeth and gums, and to improve dental health including:

  • Chewing sugar free gum or sucking on sugar free candy or mints
  • Brush teeth twice a day and floss teeth daily
  • Drink lots and lots of water
  • Use a sensitive Toothpaste
  • Use a sensitive Mouthrinse
  • Use a VERY soft Toothbrush

There are more specifics on products I found to be very helpful during my treatment that you can read about by clicking below:

Click here to read more specifics on Dental tips for chemotherapy treatment

Worry less and save money on your cancer treatment

When I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 40 my first and foremost concern was of course for my health and to be able to see my two young daughters Jessica (then 5 yrs) and Emily (then almost 2 yrs) grow up.

My second concern was how much my cancer treatment would cost and how much of a financial hardship it would be for my family.  I was (and still am) a stay at home mom, so our family was already on a pretty tight budget.

I spent a lot of sleepless nights worrying about how much my treatment of chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation would cost and how we would pay for it.

I was soon committed to not let my cancer treatment be a financial drain on my family.  As you go through cancer treatment you have a lot of nights that you have trouble sleeping either due to the treatment medications you are taking or the worry in your mind and in your heart.

I decided whenever I couldn’t sleep I would research ways to save money on my cancer treatment and apply for anything that I could in order to save as much money as possible on my treatment.

Had I known through my ten months of treatment all that I know now I could have applied for programs earlier and maximized more of my benefits and probably had many fewer sleepless nights worrying about how we would pay for my treatment.

My goal is to help others who are burdened by this horrible disease called cancer.  Hopefully the information on Cancerbutterfly.com will ease your mind about the financial side of your treatment, so you can focus on your health.

I wish you much luck with your health and your financial side of cancer.

Resources to help cancer treatment be more comfortable

 

There are a lot of resources available on Cancerbutterfly.com to help cancer patients be more comfortable as they go through cancer treatment and to help guide them along the way.  The following resources are things I either used as I personally went through breast cancer treatment or wished I had known about during treatment that I wish to share with other cancer patients.

Chemotherapy can be very hard on our gums especially due to many of the chemotherapy drugs causing dry mouth.  Dry mouth can lead to a host of dental problems.  There are tips to help prevent dry mouth on our Dental tips page.

Our wigs resource page provides basic information on wigs, along with how to care for them.  It also gives the differences between the two main types of wigs:  Synthetic Hair Wig  & Real Human Hair Wig.

Our Meal train resource page makes it really easy for a friend or family member to set up a meal delivery calendar for you and it is FREE!

Our Tips for Cancer Patients resource page provides lots of suggestions on things to help you during treatment.  Every cancer patient needs help with different things that could make life easier or more enjoyable while they go through cancer treatment.

Our Tips for Those Who Love a Cancer Patient resource page provides lots of suggestions on things you can do to help someone going through cancer treatment.  Are you wondering what you can do to help your friend or family member who is battling cancer?

 

 

 

 

 

I could have saved an additional $2,326.57 on my cancer treatment!

If I had found out about these money saving cancer treatment programs earlier in my breast cancer treatment I could have saved an additional $2,326.57 on my out of pocket co-pays!

I did save $4,276.61 on my out of pocket co-pays for my cancer treatment, however finding out at the end of my treatment that I could have saved an additional $2,326.57 was devastating!

That was money that came directly out of my family’s pocket since I didn’t know about all the cost savings available to me at the beginning or even middle of my treatment!  Many of the money saving programs available have time deadlines relating to your treatment and many of the programs also have retro rules regarding how far back in time they will allow you to use your benefits on prior treatments that occurred before the date you were actually “approved” in order to use your awarded benefits.

Since I had found out about these programs so late in my treatment, (I actually found out about them after had just finished chemotherapy), I had been awarded a certain amount of benefits that I could use but I was only able to use it on my last chemo treatment due to the programs retro rules on how far back you are allowed to use your awarded benefits 🙁

Needless to say this was extremely disappointing and frustrating to find out!  So my hope is to help other cancer patients learn about and understand these programs as early as possible in their treatment so they can save as much money as possible on their out of pocket cancer treatment expenses.

I saved over $4,200 on my out of pocket cancer treatment expenses!

There are several ways to save money on out of pocket cancer treatment expenses.

I went through ten months of treatment for breast cancer that included chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation oncology.  Cancer treatment can be very expensive depending on what type of insurance you have.

The money saving programs available that I discovered toward the end of my treatment saved our family thousands of dollars on our out of pocket expenses on insurance co-pays and deductibles.  I saved $4,276.61 to be exact!  This is an amazing amount of savings.

However, had I known about these programs earlier in my treatment I could have further maximized the benefits, as some of the programs are time sensitive relating to when you receive treatment, and I could have saved thousands of dollars more.

The programs available can provide discounts on hospital expenses such as surgery, big tests like MRI, PET scan, mammograms, blood work, ultrasound, etc.

The discounts available for chemotherapy treatment can save you thousands on your out of pocket co-pays relating to the chemotherapy drugs and other cancer treatment related drugs you receive.

The discounts available for radiation oncology can also save thousands on your out of pocket co-pays relating to your radiation treatment.  I am excited to share all the resources that I uncovered during my treatment and help guide cancer patients along the way.

The cancer road is not an easy one, especially the financial side of it.  However, I have been there and I can guide you through your financial side of treatment and help you save as much money as possible on your out of pocket cancer related treatment expenses.