The Many Costs of Cancer

For the past four years, my mother’s husband fought colon cancer, a devastating disease. He fought hard, too: two surgeries, 36 chemotherapy treatments, 2 radiation treatments, and more. The cancer started in his colon and moved to his liver before eventually spreading into his bones and brain.

So many Americans are diagnosed with and suffer from cancer’s devastation these days that it is almost a cliché’ to say that cancer is a terrible disease. But it bears repeating: cancer is a terrible disease.

Cancer takes its toll not only on the patient but also on the patient’s loved ones and caregivers. I so admire the doctors and nurses who helped my stepfather fight the good fight and the hospice care team that provided him and my mother with respite and kindness right up to the end.

It’s not only the disease that works to wear down the patient, though. It’s the treatment and the stress that accompanies it.

My stepfather is an Air Force veteran, so much of his care was provided by the Veterans Administration in Dallas, Texas. The facility was located nearly 90 minutes from his home. My mother and her husband would get up at 4:00am to drive to Dallas for his appointments. Once they arrived, after fighting the notoriously bad traffic, it could take up to an hour to find a parking place. They never knew how many hours it would take for each visit’s planned procedure. The VA provides housing for patients undergoing treatment, but like all of its other services, it is limited. My parents often had to stay in a local hotel at their own expense.

My parents were fortunate because they did not have to foot the entire bill for my stepfather’s treatment.   That’s not to say it was virtually free. My parents were still responsible for a percentage of the cost of my stepfather’s care. My mother has often stated that she doesn’t know how people without health insurance and savings can afford the treatment and associated costs of fighting cancer.

Saying the health care system in our country needs reform is another cliché . It’s like saying, “It’s hot in Houston in the summer.” I certainly do not have the answer to the problem, but surely someone or some group of people does. We are a nation of great thinkers and intellectual powerhouses. Americans designed and put in place the world’s most vibrant and long lasting democracy, put a man on the moon, men and women into long term orbit around the planet, invented the deadliest weapons of war, and created Superman and Wonder Woman. Surely someone has the vision and the intellect to offer some tangible solutions to the health care crisis in this country.

So much of the cost of treating a deadly disease could be eradicated with foresight. Providing every American a yearly physical, dental exam, eye exam, and nutritional counseling is a must. Women who become pregnant must have access to quality prenatal care. An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure – another cliché, but an obvious truth.

Many types of cancer can be defeated when caught early. Early detection also lowers the cost of medical treatment as well as the cost of treating the family members and caregivers for the resulting illnesses brought on by the grief and stress of caring for a loved one with cancer. High blood pressure and higher than normal levels of stress related hormones are just two examples.

Cancer is, ultimately, costing all of us in some way, whether it is the physical toll it takes, the emotional toll it takes, or the financial toll it takes on the patients who have it, the people who care for the patient who has it, and everyone who pays for its treatment in any way, including his or her taxes.