Category: chemotherapy

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.

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.