In May of 2003, I was diagnosed with a rare form of Leukemia called Acute promyelocytic leukemia or APL.  I spent the next two months in the hospital fighting for my life. In late July of 2003, they discovered my spleen was diseased and removed it, leaving me vulnerable to opportunistic diseases.

My hospital bills topped $200,000.

In January of 2005, my worst nightmare came true, My cancer relapsed and was more aggressive than ever. The traditional regiment for my cancer only sped up the progression of the disease. We abandoned hope when a doctor told me I would not live past the Fourth of July. A second opinion gave me hope, and a new regimen of chemo called Arsenic Trioxide, “an ingredient in rat poison,” was administered to me once a day for 6 weeks. Treatment costs were well over $1,000. I also received weekly bone marrow biopsies to check on the progression of the cancer. The cost for these surgeries alone are more than $2,000.

I finally reached remission, and was immediately directed to Minneapolis to consult with a Bone Marrow Transplant specialists. I was given a 50/50 chance of survival.

In May of 2005, I started a new round of chemo and radiation therapy to wipe out all of my diseased bone marrow. And on May 18th, I joined a list of 300 people around the world who received a double cord blood transplant, “a matching bone marrow donor could not be found.”  I stayed in the hospital for the next month and made daily trips for the next 75 days into the BMT clinic to monitor my health.

We were finally released in September of 2005 to return home to South Dakota, where I would need to have weekly blood draws and check-ups from my regular physician, and bi-monthly visits to my oncologist. In April of 2006, I was released by my doctor to return back to work, after nearly a year of being off.  The grand total for my transplant and other treatments reached over $750,000.

To this day, I am plagued with health issues.  I have been told that I will be immunocompromised for the rest of my life. I am sick constantly, and visit my doctor regularly enough that I am on a first name basis with all of the staff at the clinic.

The cost of my Cancer has been great: emotionally, physically, and financially.  I was blessed to have an understanding employer and great health insurance through it all. Unfortunately my medical bills maxed out my one million dollar life time benefit on my insurance, and I was forced to leave a job I loved because I no longer had insurance.

My out of pocket expense of $50,000 was small compared to many, but it still has taken me 6 years to pay off my bills. And my once perfect credit was severely damaged due to bills I could not afford to pay right away. I also live in constant fear of losing my health insurance should I be laid off or lose my job.  Once that coverage lapses, no other insurance company will pick you up without very high premiums. 

There needs to be change! I consider myself lucky to have had medical insurance. I could not imagine what would have happened had I not had it. I was told by the transplant hospital that had I not of had insurance that I could not be treated until I came up with the money.  Insurance is the only reason I am still alive today.

Jennifer – Cavour, SD

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