Ray from UK hasn’t an individual health coverage and therefore stopped his successful Avastin chemotherapy to stabilise his metastatic liver cancer. Read more about our other 2 metastatic liver cancer survivors Trish and Dan:
On one hand I am surprised how seemingly easy Ray talks about major medical insurance… I still remember my peaceful hubby almost beating up the social worker of father’s personal medical insurance because the social worker refused to coordinate the palliative care.
Like they say: all cancers are different, and it seems all people are different as well. You need to know that you will get overwhelmed with anger when you hear you or your loved one has cancer, but for sure hubby was right it was not our task to organize palliative care.
As usual: where you live and with whom you organise your life determines a lot about your health and health care.
Remember how McCain scolded Obama being a "socialist European", but some of these "socialist European" countries all citizens are covered by good and cheap medical insurance. Father lived in one of these "socialist European" countries and he didn’t have to depend his cancer treatment options to any medical insurance boundaries.
Japan also seems to have a great health care system:
- for sure better that the US nationwide health insurance that excludes one American out every 4. What’s the point in having the best cancer treatment options facilities in your borders when you can’t afford to use them?
- better that the UK health care system also having most modern cancer treatment options facilities but… you will be put on a waiting list.
Nothing more ridiculous than the phone-call mom got more than a year after father died saying that she now was on top of the waiting list and if she still needed the help she wanted…
Now you cannot change the place where you were born, but if your health is precious for you and you can afford changes, by all means:
- go and live in an environment where the air is not polluted (if that still exists?)
- eat as much organic, healthy and pesticides free food
- move your body: a healthy body is a body that moves
- be prepared for cancer: get yourself the best medical insurance your money can buy.
Cancer is just lurking around the corner and will get you or your loved ones sooner than later. No need to act as if we are doomed, just inform yourself with cancer statistics and do the maths.
Or be like us: once you have cancer, suddenly lots of others that had cancer in their family come out of the closet. It’s sad that these people are living in the same street as you are and you never had a clue what was the problem…
Don’t end up like Ray waiting for his personal medical insurance and company health insurance determine the rest of his life: get yourself organised as good as possible when you still
feel healthy!
Ray’s metastatic liver cancer survivor story
Ray gave his comment as a feedback on the Avastin cancer drug.
I had a years course of Avastin for Secondary Liver Cancer and it stopped any new tumours from growing for over a year, then once I stopped taking it they came back.
The side affects were non-existent so I was very pleased about that I can tell you!
So yes I would say it definitely works (for me anyway!)
I’m now trying to get my insurance company to pay for another years supply but having no luck at the moment.
It is through my company health insurance so they are speaking to them at the moment on my behalf.
Cheers
Ray