March 12, 2012
Some good news and some sad news... reasons why we need to find a better way
The Good News – Paying it back to Pay it Forward:
The good news is that with the wonderful generosity of my Breast Friends Network, the sports teams that my sons play in and my husband’s squash buddies, we have raised over $1200 so far in support of Breast Cancer Research and Awareness. This does not include donations that my sister Maria has received for her participation in the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer and the April Hair Shearing event where our friend, neighbour and Iain’s basketball coach, Marc will also be shaving his hair and will be hosting (see the links respectively below):
In my “spare time” between chemo treatments and hedging infections, nausea, etc, I have been in contact with the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, the BC Cancer Foundation and TELUS to see how I can become more involved in fight to conquer cancer. My goals are to become involved in volunteering, fund raising, leveraging our TELUS relationship with these organizations, making an impact in the research and awareness efforts, eventually becoming part of the organizations’ governance bodies and my personal goal of raising $250,000 over the next five years - this is the duration of the all chemical treatments to help my fight against cancer.
As my sister has reinforced with me, many people that live a difficult health journey find a need to give back due to the significant financial draw the journey is on “the system”. Although we should find solace in the fact that “we have been paying into the system” all our working lives and will continue to do so, it still does not seem enough based on the care and expense it takes to get us through the journey. In order to create an order of magnitude to my own real life health expenses since I have been diagnosed with Breast Cancer (and some of the expenses leading up to it), I created a simple expense sheet with an estimated cost to each major step in the process and came to the conclusion that my breast cancer experience will cost approximately:
Paying it Back: $250,000 – this is just an average between a low estimate of $200,000 and a high estimate of $300,000 (I will try to get more accurate data if possible – some data is accurate based on information from doctors or actual invoices). Here is the general breakdown (which I think are conservative):
· Mammograms and related tests: $4200
· Surgeries (known – Lumpectomy, Mastectomy, Port Install, Breast Reconstruction): $29,500
· Chemo Therapy, other related Cancer Treatments and Infection Management: $141,600
· Wage and benefits: $110,000
· Emotional and professional health impact: cannot quantify
· Decreased chance of recurrence and decreased chance of early mortality: Priceless
Paying it Forward: avoid this level of expense and still ensure lower cancer recurrence, lower mortality and improved emotional health of anyone diagnosed with Breast Cancer or any Cancer by supporting Cancer Research and awareness.
The Sad News – two parts:
Part 1) Sharon, one of my colleagues at TELUS who was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in 2010 when she was in her late 30’s, has sadly succumbed to complications due to Breast Cancer. Sharon passed away after a two year battle with this disease and was only 40 years of age. Words cannot express my sadness and frustration that her loss may have been avoided if we had improved processes and research that could have detected her cancer sooner before it had a chance to spread to this final outcome. During her journey, Sharon along with a few other courageous TELUS women gave their stories in as part of TELUS’s Go Pink campaign last year. The link below provide part of Sharon’s story (and other stories) and a view to her beauty and strength.
I am hoping we, as colleagues at TELUS, can commemorate Sharon’s life by sharing in her strength and courage. As compassionate humans, I ask that we also commemorate her life and that of others by finding better ways for early detection, early intervention and ultimately a cure for cancers.
Part 2) Like Daughter, Like Mother: Closer to home, my Mother (Serafina – a name that I have always found to be lovely) was recently (February 2012) also diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Ironically her Breast Cancer was also found to be in her left breast as was mine was – damn left breasts anyway! The good news so far seems to be that the cancer was caught early (remember the value of early detection) – we are hoping it is only at Stage I where she may only need a lumpectomy and radiation. We will know more once we have the results of her MRI tests later this month. While we all want to share mutual experiences with our Mothers, this is one experience that I would preferred not to have shared. True to my Mother’s caring and giving nature, she continues to worry more about my journey than the one she is about to embark on. There are times where I would prefer not to have any attention, this is one of them. It seems to me that I should be helping my Mother as she gets older, not the other way around:o(
Why we need to find a better way:
Please consider sharing your energies to assist with the fight against cancer, either through fund raising, donations, volunteering, advocacy or just awareness.
For Sharon, my Mother, Carissa, my TELUS colleagues, members of my community and the more than 23,000 Women living with or surviving through Breast Cancer, let’s find a better way.....
No comments:
Post a Comment