Care that never quits?

March 2013. I take my wife of seven years to the local hospital for abdominal pain and swelling. The blood test come back with the worst news anyone could ever want to hear-cancer.

 

they send us to another city an hour away that is said to be the best in the state. I'm glad they think so...but that is a whole other story.

 

We find out that she has late stage three ovarian cancer even though she had a clean bill of health just two years earlier. The treatment begins along with all the wonderful side effects that go with it. The entire family was going through hell.

 

she starts to who signs of improvement but the doctors are now calling it terminal. Terminal! Not something any of us thought we would ever hear. The treatment she was receiving was minimal and, in my opinion, substandard to begin with. I was frustrated with her care.

 

My wife was a singer in a band and had been performing since the age of three. Her biggest idols were Ann and Nancy Wilson of the rock band Heart. She had never had the opportunity to see them live. So I set it up. I wanted to give her that one thing she always wanted. Heart was performing at a casino close by and I was able to contact their road manager. Not only was she going to get to see them from front row center but she was going to meet them and be the guest of honor.

 

As we are getting ready to go a commercial for Cancer Treatment Centers of America comes on the tv. They have a radical new chemo that targets ovarian cancer and has shown incredible success in late stage patients. Could January 31, 2013 really be the best day of her life?! She is about to meet her idols and now has been given hope of living! It couldn't get any better than this. She calls her mother and tells her who in turn calls the center.

 

Operator; You have what kind of insurance? Oh, I'm sorry but we don't take that. Of course we take cash but I'm sure since you have THAT insurance you couldn't afford to pay the cost of these treatments. They are very expensive. Oh, she has been undergoing treatment at that hospital? They give experimental chemo and we don't see patients that have been given experimental chemo. So sorry but y'all have a nice day.

 

Click.

 

Care that never quits. Really? Well, I guess that I very true. How can something quit if it never starts? In a round about way they are not misleading in that statement.

 

The one thing they won't tell you is how unimportant your life is unless you have money. And lots of it. They don't care one ounce for the people out there. They care about your wallet, the size of your bank account, and how much they can milk out of your insurance.

 

We were not receiving the proper care from one hospital and were denied access to something that may have been able to give her back to all of us.

 

Tracy passed away at home after 12 long and agonizing hours of pain at 10:26am on August 11, 2014. Her mother, our daughter and myself were there comforting her. She had just turned 44. We all miss her each and every day.

 

There were 800 people at her memorial service. So see, CTCA? She DID matter. She really did matter. I hope you all sleep well at night knowing that.