#53242 05-05-2007 06:47 AM | Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 525 "Above & Beyond" Member (300+ posts) | OP "Above & Beyond" Member (300+ posts) Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 525 | I found this article in the Discovery Channel Blog. I did not find it comforting to learn that I Am Not Alone......... I know there has to be thousands of people out there with no insurance, facing cancer. My husband has been fighting Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma for five years now. First he was going to a clinic, then they transferred his treatment to a hospital. Because he has no insurance, they both "REFUSED" to treat him any longer. If it hadn't been for the VA, he'de be dead by now. He's still not in remission, so we face a long haul ahead of us. With no insurance, what do other people do? Just die? We so need financial aid in "This Country" to help people with no insurance who have cancer and other diseases. It just makes me sick that all we hear about is giving aid to Africa and other places. What about the rest of us? The United States needs to think of helping people in this country who really need it.
DX 3-21-07 L tongue,SCC Stage IV (T3N2MO) TX Slash/Burn/Poison Method. ***Rapid Aggressive Recurrence 8-4-07 with same DX/TX. Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh. Never Give Up! ****UPDATE**** Our dear friend Petey passed away, RIP 9-2-07
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#53243 05-05-2007 10:31 AM | Joined: Apr 2006 Posts: 583 "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts) | "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts) Joined: Apr 2006 Posts: 583 | PeteyB,
I agree with you on the US taking care of home first then the rest. There are so many here in the US that are homeless, hungry, no health care. Our prisoners get more in jail.
I seem to remember a story about a Man that broke the law to be sent to jail to get health care. Go figure?
Just look at what you went through !
Take care Diane
2004 SCC R.tip 1/4 tongue Oct. 2005 R. Neck SCC cancer/Chemo Cisplatin 2x/8wks. Rad. Removed Jugular vein, Lymph gland & some neck muscle. TX finished 1/20/06... B.Cancer 3/29/07 Finished 6/07 Bi-op 7/15/09 SCC in-situ, laser surgery removed from 1st. sight. Right jaw replacement 11/3/14. 9 yrs cancer free as of Jan. 2015
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#53244 05-06-2007 12:17 AM | Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 525 "Above & Beyond" Member (300+ posts) | OP "Above & Beyond" Member (300+ posts) Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 525 | OK I did consider breaking the law for the purpose of obtaining Health Care. My deciding factor was that the jail time and "healing" time would not, according to Florida law, run concurrent. I would have had to commit the offense WHILE IN JAIL for this to occur. Please note these were the same legislators who wrote the Health Care District eligibility rules. ( OK = only kidding)
DX 3-21-07 L tongue,SCC Stage IV (T3N2MO) TX Slash/Burn/Poison Method. ***Rapid Aggressive Recurrence 8-4-07 with same DX/TX. Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh. Never Give Up! ****UPDATE**** Our dear friend Petey passed away, RIP 9-2-07
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#53245 05-31-2007 05:32 AM | Joined: May 2007 Posts: 41 Contributing Member (25+ posts) | Contributing Member (25+ posts) Joined: May 2007 Posts: 41 | I am so glad I came acrosss this site. My husband was just diagnosed with stage 4 mouth cancer, he has to have 20 teeth taken out before he can start treatment(radiation and chemo 5 days a week for 7 weeks), as surgery is not an option do to it being too advanced(attached to muscles and bones) My insurance doen't go into affect till tomarrow and now they wont touch him as he is considered "uninsurable"...now we are getting the run around on getting him help. That the lord, it seems like I have found the support we will need through this, as his dr said we have a long road ahead of us.
Husband age 48, diagnosed 5/10/07 with stage 4 mouth cancer, surgury not an option, teeth removed 6/21/07, 5x wks of rad with Cisplatin 1x week for 7-8 week course starting 7/10/07. Update 02/25/08 right maxillectomy and right infratemporal fossa resection
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#53246 05-31-2007 09:24 AM | Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 8,311 Senior Patient Advocate Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) | Senior Patient Advocate Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 8,311 | tnkay,
Post any question you need answered in the appropriate section and you will get all the help you need.
David
Age 58 at Dx, HPV16+ SCC, Stage IV BOT+2 nodes, non smoker, casual drinker, exercise nut, Cisplatin x 3 & concurrent IMRT x 35,(70 Gy), no surgery, no Peg, Tx at Moffitt over Aug 06. Jun 07, back to riding my bike 100 miles a wk. Now doing 12 Spin classes and 60 outdoor miles per wk. Nov 13 completed Hilly Century ride for Cancer, 104 miles, 1st Place in my age group. Apr 2014 & 15, Spun for 9 straight hrs to raise $$ for YMCA's Livestrong Program. Certified Spin Instructor Jun 2014.
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#53247 05-31-2007 10:25 AM | Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 525 "Above & Beyond" Member (300+ posts) | OP "Above & Beyond" Member (300+ posts) Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 525 | Hello tnkay2001
Welcome to the Oral Cancer Foundation Website. We are sorry you had to join us, but we will help you get through your journey.
This is a very helpful forum. Everyone here will assist you if they can. I know you have many questions and you could not have come to a better place for help, assistance and compassion.
I will suggest a few things to help you get familiar with this site. Read the faq at the top of the page. Put your Dx & Tx in your signature box. (recomended but not required). The faq will teach you many things about this site. I also recomend you go to the "general board" forum and read the topic "how to get the most out of this forum".
Once you familiarize yourself with this site and understand how to use it and to access it's search engines and all the resources and post your topics in the appropriate forums you will find this site invaluable.
Post in the "Introduce Yourself" forum a note like you wrote above so everyone can greet you.
Wishing you the best and looking forward to assisting you. Sincerely, Petey
DX 3-21-07 L tongue,SCC Stage IV (T3N2MO) TX Slash/Burn/Poison Method. ***Rapid Aggressive Recurrence 8-4-07 with same DX/TX. Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh. Never Give Up! ****UPDATE**** Our dear friend Petey passed away, RIP 9-2-07
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#53248 05-31-2007 03:27 PM | Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 2,676 Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) | Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 2,676 | Here is an interesting question to pose to your Congressman\woman. Dear ______ Could you please share with me[your constituant with a vote] how much you pay for Medical Ins.and your prescription drugs each year? Thank you very much, John[Jane] Q. Voter. Ask your local newspapers and radio stations to do an article on this- stir things up- and insist on answers. Amy in the Oz
CGtoJohn:SCC Flr of Mouth.Dx 3\05. Surg.4\05.T3NOMO.IMRTx30. Recur Dx 1\06.Surg 2\06. Chemo: 4 Cycles of Carbo\Taxol:on Erbitux for 7 mo. Lost our battle 2-23-07- But not the will to fight this disease
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#53249 06-01-2007 02:27 AM | Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 525 "Above & Beyond" Member (300+ posts) | OP "Above & Beyond" Member (300+ posts) Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 525 | Hello Amy I live in South Florida (Palm Beach County) where all the hoopla was generated in the last 2 Presidential Elections. If I sent this to Tallahassee "as is" with a self-addressed return envelope it would come back with a "NO" written after Dear and they will have thought it was an absentee ballot for Medicare Prescription Drugs! :rolleyes: We don't keep the sharpest knives in the "cabinet" down yonder!
DX 3-21-07 L tongue,SCC Stage IV (T3N2MO) TX Slash/Burn/Poison Method. ***Rapid Aggressive Recurrence 8-4-07 with same DX/TX. Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh. Never Give Up! ****UPDATE**** Our dear friend Petey passed away, RIP 9-2-07
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#53250 07-11-2007 10:39 AM | Joined: Jun 2007 Posts: 595 "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts) | "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts) Joined: Jun 2007 Posts: 595 | Hi, I believe that everyone should have affordable health insurance, but as retired solider I dont believe that it should be government operated. I say this because of the VA system and the Military system of health care. During my career I did and went where Uncle told me to, and whwn I lest they said "thank you for your service but because you were not injuried on active duty you have no VA benefits". My employer (State of Vermont) has good health insurance. The Military system works great if the user is an Officer or a member of Congress, but the enlisted solider has a harder time in the system due to the cast system in all services. The VA is never fully funded reguardless which party is in the Whitehouse. So there must be a better system, for which I do not have the answer.
Bob age 57, non smoker,non drinker, ended treatment on 11 Nov 2007 and started back to work on 29 Nov 2007. Veterans Day 2012 the Battle was lowered, folded, Taps was played and the Flag buried as I am know a 5 year survivor. Semper-FI !!!
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#53251 07-11-2007 01:01 PM | Joined: Feb 2005 Posts: 2,019 Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) | Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) Joined: Feb 2005 Posts: 2,019 | The problems with the VA and the Indian health Service (the other government run health care system we have already) is more because of funding than that they are government run. And not all VA hospitals are bad, some are very good, which is also true for the Indian health Service from what I understand (my ex-husband was Cherokee and my ex-mother-in-law worked at one of those hospitals). And despite their problems, the people that are covered by these benefits never have to worry about fighting to get care when they need it, like Petey and many others have had to do.
If we took the money we put into private insurance companies, who need to post large quarterly profits, and put that into a national system, we could have a high quality one. As a nation, we spend more on health care than do the nations like Canada and the UK with state-run systems. And yet, we have many many people who don't have any coverage and others who believe they are covered then have essential treatment denied due to some loophole in their contract when they really need it! Why is that? Because what we spend is going to insurance company stockholders a profit.
Believe me, I have no problem with publicly held companies, owning stock, or making money from that (That's what my retirement account is all about). But it's just totally incompatible with quality health care.
Nelie
SCC(T2N0M0) part.glossectomy & neck dissect 2/9/05 & 2/25/05.33 IMRT(66 Gy),2 Cisplatin ended 06/03/05.Stage I breast cancer treated 2/05-11/05.Surgery to remove esophageal stricture 07/06, still having dilatations to keep esophagus open.Dysphagia. "When you're going through hell, keep going"
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