cancer treatment

Do you understand how cancer grants work?

You could be missing out on a lot of financial help if you don’t fully understand how cancer financial grants work.

There are retro rules for each grant, “back door” ways to get approved even if they say the funding is closed for the specific grant you are needing to apply to, and different names for the drugs you may be receiving (grants may be listed under the brand name OR the generic name) …….

**Chemotherapy and drug co-payment assistance grants have specific time deadlines and depending on the Foundation program may only go retro for 30-180 days (some go a year retro) from your “approved” date, so it is VERY important to apply for these right away.

Make sure you fully understand how the grants work BEFORE applying for any grants!

Check out our…….

Chemotherapy and Drug Grant Overview Page to understand the entire process

**Join our FREE private Breast Cancer Financial Help and Resources – Cancer Butterfly Facebook Group to ask questions, share info, and get in the info sharing first hand 🙂

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Dental tips during chemotherapy

This is a really important subject…. I posted about this subject about a year ago and feel it so important, that I will probably repeat this post every six months or so….

(this info will not only save your teeth, but save you a bundle in major dental work down the road)

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 ……..

There are 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

**Join our FREE private Breast Cancer Financial Help and Resources – Cancer Butterfly Facebook Group to ask questions, share info, and get in the info sharing first hand 🙂

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The December 5th Fund

This is an amazingly inspiring fund that we stumbled across. Created to honor his wife who battled breast cancer for two years… this fund gives families of a cancer patients “one great day”.“The December 5th Fund was created to give families a chance to be a family again and to give them a great day full of wonderful memories that they can treasure long after the burden of cancer is gone.”

For the founder of this fund and his family, December 5 was a great day that they were able to spend as a family and have many small memorable moments. Down the road that special day is what launched his idea of “The December 5th Fund”.

Giving one day to a family dealing with cancer so they can just be a family and enjoy! The December 5th Fund team plans out a day full of fun small memorable moments for a family dealing with cancer.

While the family is out enjoying their day, their team of local volunteers and businesses across the city of St. Louis will make sure the family comes home to a pleasant and stress-free surprise.

It could be yard work completed, a spotless home, or household projects completed.

**Join our FREE private Breast Cancer Financial Help and Resources – Cancer Butterfly Facebook Group to ask questions, share info, and get in the info sharing first hand 🙂

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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:

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.

History of the Butterfly symbol

Butterflies are deep and powerful representations of life. Many cultures associate the butterfly with our souls. The Christian religion sees the butterfly as a symbol of resurrection. Around the world, people view the butterfly as representing endurance, change, hope, and life.

Butterflies symbolize life struggles that people have endured to emerge as a better person.

Imagine your entire physical being changing to such an extreme that you are unrecognizable at the end of the transformation. Keep in mind, this change takes place in a short span of about a month (that’s the length of the butterfly life cycle). This is the deepest symbolic lesson of the butterfly. She asks us to accept the changes in our lives as casually as she does. The butterfly unquestioningly embraces the changes of her environment and her body. This unwavering acceptance of her metamorphosis is also symbolic of FAITH. Here the butterfly requests us to KEEP OUR FAITH as we move toward these changes throughout our lives. She understands that our worrying, frustration, and anger are useless against the constant changes of nature – she asks us to recognize the same.

Christianity believes the butterfly to be a symbol for the soul. We are all on a long journey of the soul through our lives. On this journey we encounter endless curves, swerves, and up-hill roads that cause us to emerge into finer beings. At our soul-journey’s end we are inevitably changed – not at all the same as when we started on our road. Our mission is to make our way in faith, accept the change that comes, and emerge from our transitions as gracefully as the butterfly.

To Native Americans the meaning of the Butterfly symbol signifies transformation. The butterfly is also believed to be a messenger from the spirit world. The message the butterfly brings depends on their color. A black butterfly indicates bad news or illness, yellow brings hope and guidance, brown signifies important news, red signifies an important event and white signifies good luck. A butterfly who lands on your shoulder brings you comfort……..may a butterfly land on your shoulder soon.

As you go through your cancer treatment may you be reminded of the butterfly and may she help bring you peace as she flies past 🙂

To help ease your burden as you go through cancer treatment we have a lot of resources available to help with chemotherapy cost, chemotherapy side effects, and radiation treatment costs. Click the compass below to check out all the FREE Resources available:

Don’t open the oven door with your wig on!

The biggest tip I can give you in the “wig” department is….. “don’t open the oven door with your wig on!” Both of the wigs I purchased were synthetic. I had no idea that synthetic wigs are HEAT SENSITIVE and I was just going about my business pulling dinner out of the oven and then I noticed when I walked past a mirror that my bangs were standing on end! Never to look the same again! The heat from the oven scorched my bangs 🙁 So then, I was on to wig number two.

If you are going through cancer treatment and chemotherapy is part of your medical treatment, losing your hair may be part of the deal as one of the chemotherapy side effects of some of the chemotherapy drugs. Keep in mind it is temporary and the chemotherapy hair loss, eyebrow hair loss and eyelash loss will grow back rather quickly once chemotherapy treatment is complete.

There are two main types of wigs:

Synthetic Hair Wig – generally less expensive than real human hair. You CAN NOT use hot styling tools on a synthetic wig unless it is a heat safe version. There is no styling necessary for synthetic wigs, since they come already styled. When wearing a synthetic wig be very careful to stay away from BBQ grills, ovens, stoves, and fireplaces!

Real Human Hair Wig – generally more expensive than synthetic wigs and has a higher quality texture of hair. This type of wig will allow you to be able to change the hairstyle and use hot styling tools on it.

It is recommended that you wash your wig after wearing it every 8-12 times. Don’t brush your wig when it is wet. The fibers in wigs are fragile and should only be brushed with a wig brush and only when the wig is dry. There is special wig shampoo that you can purchase at any wig shop.

The bangs on wigs are purposely left long so that each person can have them trimmed how they would like, since some people wear their bangs longer than others. After you purchase your wig you can take it to a hairdresser that has experience in cutting wigs and have the bangs trimmed how you would like. I also put hair clips in my wigs to make them look more like how I actually wear my hair.

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.