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The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Blog

March 2008
Samantha Mills

The costs of cancer

Posted by Samantha Mills Mar 21, 2008

Unless you’ve been hiding somewhere, you’ll know that the economy is having a little bit of a tough time right now. The headlines I’m seeing as I’m typing this are:

  • “Cash strapped, and driving less”

  • “The next shoe to drop in housing”

  • "Financial markets looking for bottom”

  • “A slice of pizza gets pricier” (And yes, that’s a real headline – and a real shame for pizza lovers.)

 

It’s not easy dealing with a strapped economy when you’re well, let alone when you have a disease like cancer. You might already be feeling uneasy about your job, retirement income, and assets. On top of everything else you now have medical bills. It’s crazy, and it’s making you crazy (I would be anyway).

 

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) can’t solve all of your financial woes, but we have a few resources that may be able to help you find some relief.

 

 

There is also a wealth of advice about your employment rights as a cancer survivor, issues with insurance, and other programs that help with prescription drug coverage.

 

Finally, there is an archived teleconference in the Survivorship Education Series section of the LLS website called, “Cancer Survivorship: Practical Tips for Managing Your Financial and Insurance Issues.”

 

What do you do when your medical bills become too high? Are you going through this now?

 

 

 

If you think someone you know would benefit from this information share this blog post with them.

0 Comments 0 References Permalink Tags: patient_financial_aid, co-pay_assistance_program, employment_rights, health_insurance, prescription_drugs, national_education_workshops, teleconference, patients
Samantha Mills

I’ve been spending a little time today reading the Patient Services Discussion Boards, specifically the Newly Diagnosed board. It’s heartbreaking to read some of these posts. A lot of these new cancer patients and their caregivers are scared, feel helpless, and alone. Participating in our online community allows them to find the immediate emotional support they need.

 

These people are also looking for resources – many of which The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) provides.

 

In just got the dx dkvpv looks for questions to ask her doctor:

 

“…my Dr. said we would sit down and talk. I'm very scared and numb. What should I expect, what should I ask?”

 

The LLS website has a page called, What to Ask After Diagnosis. It has a variety of printable question guides which can be of help during different conversations a cancer patient may have while sitting down with their oncologist.

 

In NH folicular lymphoma Me2RN looks for peer support:

 

“At times I feel set apart from others and would like to just talk about it with people who feel like I do or have the same experience. I have a great support group around me but they do not have cancer.”

 

LLS offers First Connection, which is a peer-to-peer support program. You can sign up to receive a call from a trained volunteer who has been through it, just like you. Both patients and caregivers can utilize this helpful program.

 

In New dx of CML-scared to death!! LauraB523 wants to know how to cope:

 

“So, does anyone have any advice or coping skills to pass along? I have some good days but also some bad. Just a lot to deal with right now!!”

 

Along with many other free materials, LLS offers the Coping support booklet (.pdf) which can either be downloaded or received by mail. It’s geared towards people living with leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

 

There are many other online resources available to people who have been newly diagnosed with one of the blood cancers. It’s not easy to find out that you or a loved one has cancer, but it can be easy to find the help and support you need on our website. Can’t find what you’re looking for? Give us a call or send us an email.

0 Comments 0 References Permalink Tags: patient_services_discussion_boards, first_connection, free_materials, what_to_ask, patients, caregivers
Samantha Mills

Iditarod: a word that probably makes people shiver – some with cold, and others with excitement. This Alaska race is sometimes referred to as the “Last Great Race on Earth.” Dogsled teams (mushers and their dogs) compete to get to the end of 1,150 cold, treacherous miles first, hoping to become the champion.

 

Susan Butcher participated in more than a dozen Iditarod races and was a four-time champion. She was also the second woman to win the race.

 

In December 2005 Susan had another challenge set before her: Leukemia. She fought hard, winning praise and encouragement for her dedicated fight from Good Morning America (see the video on www.susanbutcher.com). When it was found out she needed a bone marrow transplant, inspired Alaskans came out in droves to donate. Sadly she lost her battle less than a year later in August 2006.

 

Despite the loss of Susan, her memory is still honored to this day through the actions of others.

 

At the opening ceremony of the Iditarod race this past Saturday (March 1st), Alaska governor Sarah Palin signed a bill saying that every first Saturday in March would be “Susan Butcher Day.” (The Iditarod race also starts every first Saturday in March.) Gov. Palin said, "No one exemplifies the spirit of Iditarod more than Susan Butcher."

 

Susan is also being honored in another way. Her husband, David Monson, is participating in a completely different type of race - with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training at the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll marathon in June. (The TNT program is the marathon’s official training program.) His participation will help earn money for leukemia research and patient services.

 

Support David and honor Susan by donating to LLS at his page on the TNT website.  (Be sure to also watch the touching PSA posted there.)

 

!http://community.lls.org/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/1006/susanbutcherpsa.jpg!

 

Learn more about Susan Butcher by visiting her website at www.susanbutcher.com.

 

Find out more about how you can participate in Team In Training:

Team In Training is currently recruiting for their Summer season. Events include: Rock 'n' Roll Marathon® , San Diego, CA - June, 1 2008; America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride, Lake Tahoe, NV - June 1, 2008; Mayor's Marathon and Half Marathon, Anchorage, AK - June 1, 2008. For more information please call (800) 482-TEAM or visit www.teamintraining.org.

0 Comments 0 References Permalink Tags: susan_butcher, leukemia, bone_marrow, team_in_training, rock_n_roll_marathon, iditarod, alaska
Samantha Mills

We sponsor a lot of very interesting teleconferences, but they usually take place on a weekday in the middle of a day. This means that many people who are at work or busy doing something else are not able to listen to these live events. Luckily we have our telephone education programs archived on our website, and additionally we have several podcast feeds.

 

Up until just a few days ago we had three podcast feeds:

 

 

We just added seven more podcast feeds to make it easier for people to listen to the teleconferences they are interested in. Here’s a list of our new feeds:

 

 

Okay – so a lot of people may not know what RSS or podcasts are. I’ll try to explain.

 

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) has been around for quite a while (since about 1999), but it hasn’t really taken off until the last few years. Personally, I didn’t really start to utilize it myself until a couple of years ago, but now I am taking advantage of it on almost a daily basis.

 

RSS allows you to read content from all of your favorite websites in one place. Do you find that you don’t have time to visit all of those websites on a daily basis, but you still want to read their content? The solution is to create an account with an aggregation service like Google Reader or Newsgator, then add your favorite website’s feed to the aggregator. At this point those websites syndicate their information to you.

 

A podcast feed acts the same way, except instead of text-based content, websites (like ours) can syndicate their digital media files (like teleconferences) to you. With our podcast feeds you’ll always stay up to date when there is a new teleconference, making it so you have less of a chance to miss that important and informative information.

 

Learn more about our new feeds and RSS on our LLS News Feeds and Podcasts page.

0 Comments 0 References Permalink Tags: podcast, blood_cancers, patients, caregivers, national_education_workshops, rss, teleconference

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