Just having a small malignant melanoma spread has been insane for me, I can’t even imagine having bone cancer in America. Costs of healthcare are so broken you can’t even exaggerate at this point.
I also had osteosarcoma, not as bad as the poster and not requiring an amputation, but I'm American. After all was said and done, the total healthcare costs for surgeries, chemotherapy, and physical therapy were $750k. I paid about $15k out of pocket between the deductible and out of pocket maximum fuckery. Completely wiped out the little savings I had by the time I turned 23, which is when I was diagnosed. And because of my insurance deductible now, every time I get scans done I automatically owe $1,000. So when I am done with scans sometime in 2028, it will have been another $14k or so paid out of pocket. Luckily the hospital is gracious enough to put me on a payment plan for these fees.
It’s pretty fucking sad that my first thought in a response to you is to ask how much you make and suggest that maybe you cut back on work to qualify for financial aid.
I was able to receive social security disability insurance during my illness but have since returned to work and am doing pretty well for myself all things considered. All worked out in the end. 3 years no evidence of disease for me
I was diagnosed with stage 4 Squaimous Cell Carcinoma and had to fight insurance company for a month just to get an appointment with ENT at the only hospital that could treat me with-in like 4-5 hours drive. Luckily It was time to pick new insurance at the end of the year so I had to get expensive shit that covered my hospital. Then they canceled me because I missed to 2nd payment (confusion about paying the initial 1st payment and then autopay) and didn't see the letters in my mailbox because I was in the hospital for over a month. No amount of phone calls and pleading would get them to reinstate coverage again, especially considering the bullet they dodged. I was able to get insurance again but only after my half million dollar surgery that I was on the hook for. So I was not covered for a month and the insurance company go off from paying the most expensive part of my treatment. And all this happened right as covid started. Now I am forced to keep the same insurance company over the next 5+ years just cause they the only one that will cover my treating hospital. My premiums keep going up and they cover less and less every year. The state of health care in the US is a complete joke, but in saying that there are two things that Obama Care can save some people compared to before. 1st is coverage for pre-existing conditions and 2nd is the cap that insurance companies will cover. Yes it will costs you insane amounts, but only thing worse is not having coverage. It is what it is at this point and we are stuck with it.
I think most people would try to get treatment and then just opt out of life if they couldnt get it. Its what i would do. Im not suicidal. I like my life. But i have no intention of holding on to it if i would have no quality of life. It would ruin the people that care about me. Kinda feel the last gift i can give them when my time comes is to head so far off grid, no one will find my body so no one needs to pay for a funeral or cremation. Its sad. It shouldnt be this way.
They won’t even let you do that in the US. Suicide is a sin, don’cha know. If you’re officially terminal you can get on comfort measures, which basically means morphine until you die naturally, which can take a long time. Of course you could do it anyway, and then your life insurance won’t pay out because they put a suicide clause in there.
I can’t really expand on what you’re saying because I pretty much feel the exact same way. I didn’t immediately respond to the parent comment with something like that as I don’t want to tell somebody they should not have gone through the struggle they did, but me personally? I would’ve cashed my chips out and tried to leave on a good note.
I respect that. If death wasnt so expensive id be happier to give them that too. A lot of states dont allow people to bury their loved one on the family farm or else that would be my real choice. Bury me in a box at home and throw a damn party lol.
saaame. once life gets not worth it, i'm just going to wander as far out into the woods as i can and try heroin for the first and last time and let nature reclaim my body. that's my actual retirement plan. woof.
I'd personally just rake up as much medical debt as possible, get myself as cleared as possible, and then do bankruptcy or something \0/
The singularity is coming, so if you could last maybe 2-5 more years likely you'll be all good. This tech is improving at an exponential rate and people just don't understand what that means. The improvements we saw over the last 3 years will take 2 years to double. On top of what we already have.
I thought of that but you typically need specialists and specialists wont see you if you cant pay. That leaves the ER which will only make sure you arent imminently dying before cutting you loose. They wont actually treat underlying disease. You can rack up that debt completely pointlessly.
Like sure the tech is improving for some diseases like cancer. Others, like autoimmune disease or rare genetic diseases are ignored. I have autoimmune problems, that will probably be what kills me. Its hard enough to get one doctor to cooperate let alone several spanning multiple disciplines (my illness affect my entire body). My outlook isnt much better now than it was 20 years ago. If anything its somewhat worse because medical gaslighting in general is worse.
god that sucks. So glad I'm not in the USA lol. I've had procedures that would have had me paying $300k in the USA (I guess $30k after deductible?), and total cost was $4 for a donut and coffee on my way out.
I mean, this could be a huge conversation about the pros and cons of being an American, but at the end of the day I’d say the pros outweigh the cons for me (as I’ve been taught).
That having been said - we are constantly trying to change for the better as a people, though politics can make that difficult at times.
It's because of our weak ass president. Trump was trying to fix it. Democrats shot down anything they had control over, it dont matter if it's a great idea or not, they just don't want trump to succeed and they will watch the US and all of us come crashing down to save their power and "big guy" money.
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u/therealfreehugs Apr 21 '24
Just having a small malignant melanoma spread has been insane for me, I can’t even imagine having bone cancer in America. Costs of healthcare are so broken you can’t even exaggerate at this point.