cancer treatment

Breast Cancer Charities of America – Help Now Fund

The Breast Cancer Charities of America – Help Now Fund is a program for current breast cancer patients, providing financial assistance for living expenses. Grants range in values of up to $1,000 based on the availability of funds AND needs of the applicant.

This foundation is committed to helping as many people as possible through their cancer related financial struggles with their Help Now Fund.
The Help Now Fund assists with:

rent or mortgage payments
utility bills (electricity, water, and/or gas)
cell phone bills
car payments.

***The Help Now Fund does not assist with transportation costs, food assistance, and cable/internet bills.

**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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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 🙂

Click the compass below to check out all of our other FREE resources:

New Grant Foundations for spring!

Happy Spring time! We have run across some new grant Foundations that may be helpful to you! The Foundations are not new, we just newly became aware of them. So we wanted to be sure to pass on the information on these Foundations right away…..

Everything from Foundations that offer non-medical cost-of-living help, transportation, home care and child care costs. Grants for help with outstanding medical bills, mortgage payments, tuition assistance and providing financial assistance for vacations!

My motto is apply for any that you may qualify for …..the worst they can say is “no” 🙂

***Here is the list of Foundations that have been newly added to our Cancer Butterfly Foundation List (go down the list and start applying today!):

The Pink Fund A non-profit breast cancer organization that provides 90-day non-medical cost-of-living to breast cancer patients in active treatment for breast cancer, so they can focus on healing, raising their families, and returning to the workplace.

Apply thru website: https://www.pinkfund.org/

The Pink Fund

P.O. Box 603

Bloomfield Hills, MI 48303

By Phone: 877.234.PINK (7465)

The Pink Fund partners with The Mary Herczog Fund for Metastatic Breast Cancer Survivors The Mary Herczog Fund for Metastatic Breast Cancer Survivors was launched in her honor to provide six months of financial support to women in treatment for metastatic breast cancer. Metastatic survivors diagnosed under 40, as was Mary, and awaiting Social Security Disability, may qualify under The Pink Fund’s guidelines. Check back to our site on March 31, 2018 for the official launch, including details on qualifications and applications.

Apply thru website: https://www.pinkfund.org/2018/03/26/partners-address-metastatic-breast-cancer-community/

The Pink Fund / The Mary Herczog Fund for Metastatic Breast Cancer Survivors

P.O. Box 603

Bloomfield Hills, MI 48303

By Phone: 877.234.PINK (7465)

Cancer Care The Financial Assistance Program helps with treatment-related costs, such as transportation, home care and child care. The Co-Payment Assistance Foundation helps with insurance co-payments to cover the cost of chemotherapy and targeted treatments.

Cancer Care

275 Seventh Avenue

New York, NY 10001

By Phone: 800‑813‑HOPE (4673)

Call to apply: Call 800-813-HOPE (4673) and speak with a CancerCare social worker to complete a brief interview. They can be reached from 10 a.m.–6 p.m. (ET) Monday through Thursday, and 10 a.m.–5 p.m. (ET) on Friday.

The Angela Andrade Foundation Grants have ranged from paying outstanding medical bills, mortgage payments, tuition assistance and providing financial assistance for vacations.

You are eligible to apply to the Angela Andrade Foundation if:

You are a patient with metastatic breast cancer
You are receiving treatment within the United States
You are a permanent resident of the United States

In order to apply for a grant, an applicant must mail a completed application to the address indicated below.

Download the application here: https://angelaandradefoundation.blogspot.com/p/srchttpsdocs.html

Grants will be given in $1,800 increments. Grants will be given on an as needed basis. Recipients are selected monthly and must wait a year before applying for another grant from The Angela Andrade Foundation. The applicant must submit a completed application including confirmation from a healthcare provider (through a sealed letter). When possible, all grant payments will be made directly to service providers on behalf of the individual recipient. In some instances recipients may be eligible for reimbursement, but they must provide receipts prior to expense reimbursement.

The Angela Andrade Foundation

The Dallas Foundation

Reagan Place at Old Parkland 3963 Maple Avenue, Suite 390

Dallas, Texas 75219

(214) 741-9898
Email: angelaandradefoundation@gmail.com

American Cancer Society Breakthrough research. Free lodging near treatment. A 24/7/365 live helpline. Rides to treatment. And much more!

Call to see what all they can help YOU with for your specific situation.

Cancer Help line: 800-227-2345

American Cancer Society Road to Recovery Program

The program is intended to assist with cancer-related appointments. Patients must provide a 3 business day advance notice, not including the first date a ride is needed, when making requests. All arrangements must be made through the American Cancer Society Patient Services department. Patients should NOT contact volunteer drivers directly to request rides.

American Cancer Society Patient Services department must be notified immediately if a patient’s plans change and a ride is no longer needed. The program is subject to volunteer availability. A request will be submitted to determine if drivers are available.

Patients will be notified no later than one business day before the scheduled appointment to provide a status update on the request and if a driver was found. (Patients may be notified sooner than this.) If a volunteer driver is found, patients may be contacted by the driver the night prior to the appointment.

Please feel free to call the American Cancer Society’s Patient Services department with any questions. Our toll-free number is 888-227-6333.

American Cancer Society – Hope Lodge Each Hope Lodge offers cancer patients and their caregivers a free place to stay when their best hope for effective treatment may be in another city. Not having to worry about where to stay or how to pay for lodging allows guests to focus on getting better. Hope Lodge provides a nurturing, home-like environment where guests can retreat to private rooms or connect with others. Every Hope Lodge also offers a variety of resources and information about cancer and how best to fight the disease.

Check out webpage for more info: https://www.cancer.org/treatment/support-programs-and-services/patient-lodging/hope-lodge.html

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

Click here to check out our complete Cancer Butterfly Foundation Grant List

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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 🙂 )

The MRI experience

Image result for mri machine

MRI (Magnetic Resonance imaging) is a test that uses a magnetic field and pulses of radio wave energy to make pictures of organs and structures inside the body.

An MRI may be used for many reasons. It can be used to find problems such as tumors, bleeding, injury, blood vessel diseases, or infections.

The way the MRI was explained to me is that is a very sensitive mammogram that will be looking at all the cell tissue in both breasts and in the chest walls.

You may be given a gown to wear and will need to remove all metal objects (such as hearing aids, dentures, jewelry, watches, and hair clips).

You need to lie very still inside the MRI magnet, so you may need medicine to help you relax if you become nervous in confined spaces if you are claustrophobic.

Inside the scanner you will hear a fan and feel air moving. You may also hear noises as the MRI scans are taken. You may be given earplugs or earphones to wear to reduce the noise.

The MRI test usually takes 30-60 minutes.

I am claustrophobic so I can’t say the MRI was a fun experience for me, but I survived and you will too. My MRI test took 45 mins and during the test I just kept trying to redirect my mind to other things and not focus on where I was.

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 here 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.

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!