Robin, I'm in Longmont (close to Boulder)and although I got diagnosed here locally by an ENT at the clinic, they immediately referred me to University of Colorado, Anshcutz Cancer Pavillion in Aurora. This is quite some distance away and usually when we have appointments I spend several hours in the car.

I do remember at the beginning of this awful saga, sitting in the radiation oncologist's examining room and remarking to my husband,"Well, thank goodness we have good insurance" One of the most terrifying aspects of this disease is the BILLS. Even with decent insurance (we had just recently changed to a better plan because of dermatoligist needed for my daughter)I was still very frightened of the cost aspects. Then again, being somewhat of a bleeding heart, I suddenly realized what journalists were talking about when it comes to lack of accessibility to health care in this country.

To make a long story short, my radiation oncologist (who had spent alot of time with me convincing me that they had some top notch cancer specialists that come from reknown institutions like MD Anderson, Mayo, etc) tapped me on the knee and told me "Look, we treat people here without insurance all the time" (that made me feel a little bit better, just knowing that other people weren't locked out of the system)

The bills, unfortunately do start coming. In my case, they started pouring in about several months after I started treatment. Great big piles of them.

As far as financial help goes, since I haven't been in this predicament, I have overheard the scheduler at my ENT's office telling another patient to contact "social services" Wherever you go for treatment, I would contact social services at the medical center. They might be the best place to hook up to financial help.

Jen