Something worse than cancer

What could possibly be worse than knowing you have cancer? For most of us nothing could possibly be worse than having cancer, I thought but I was wrong. There is something worse than cancer, it is the added insult and humiliation of having to knock on doors and people’s hearts to be able to cover the indecent cost of treatments and medication simply because you want to live. The worst of the worst is having nothing and no one and being forced “to sit by the roadside and wait for death itself.”

A few years back, the son of a well-known and loved former TV host and columnist contracted a rare form of cancer. The son was a celebrity in his own right and equally popular and loved. Most of us wished him well, prayed for him and were confident that he would survive, given that he came from a prominent family and belonged to the “upper class” – or so we thought. The curse of being a “celebrity” or a “public figure” is that prominence is mistakenly equated to being “rich.” But as another celebrity host accurately put it; “I’m not rich, I just know how to package myself.” Even when you dress down, people still assume you are rich because you are famous.

Cancer, as it turns out, does not only attack and “eat up” your healthy cells it also eats up your money, including the wealth of those who think they are financially well-able to survive cancer. Many people have survived cancer but they also ended up spending the rest of their lives paying back the cost or living in a state of financial loss.

In their desperation and added humiliation, many cancer patients end up having to knock on government doors and people’s hearts to come up with the money for radiation, chemotherapy, recurring tests, hospital charges and doctor’s professional fees. You literally spend several hundred thousand pesos a month just to fight and survive cancer. You can’t even work because the treatments make you feel sicker than the cancer.

Today’s pandemic has simply made things worse because many people don’t have work, many companies are still operating at a loss and so the usual first line of help or financial assistance is no longer there; family members are broke and offices don’t have the cash flow to be able to give assistance.

So going back to the “celebrity son,” many people were in shock when word got out that he had asked for financial assistance from a government charitable institution and was granted P1 million in order to pay for an experimental cancer drug treatment. A lot of people were scandalized by the story but for different reasons. Some were shocked that the celebrity who comes from a “rich family” would knock on the government’s door to ask for financial assistance. Others were indignant that this “rich” person would join the line of people who are so poor and ask to be given a part of the limited funds. But what really stirred things up was when he allegedly received P1 million. People called it unfair and a special accommodation just because he was a “celebrity.”

When you share the pain, you have a better appreciation of the process.

When my sister Marissa Beltran-Altamirano started on her chemotherapy sessions, the first blow she was dealt with was the never before experienced pain, vomiting, LBM, nausea and loss of taste that went on for days after each chemo session, something she now has to do over and over for a total of 21 rounds. Almost immediately after the first chemo session her hair fell out in clumps and you can only imagine how that shatters you, even if only momentarily. She decided to simply shave her hair and join the ranks of the “Bold and the Bald” cancer warriors. I, on the other hand, was more concerned about finances. She reassured me that she had some money saved up, not wanting to be a burden to me or to others. Many people are like that. They don’t want to be a burden and only start looking and asking for help when the jar is half empty. But after just one month’s worth of medical expenses, my sister has come to realize that she will need to knock on hearts and doors for help or suffer medically related bankruptcy.

Against cancer, there is no “rich,” “middle class” or “poor.” Every individual is simply someone fighting to live and survive the battle. She has dipped into savings, offered property for sale and graciously and gratefully accepted the assistance of kind souls. Like every warrior she will go where the ammunition or assistance can be found, whether it’s the mayor’s office, the congressional district office, the PCSO, the DSWD, the Office of the Vice President or the Office of the President.

This, dear readers, is the tragedy in the Philippines, not only must patients suffer the trials of a disease, they must also suffer the humiliation of having to go from one politician to another, from one government office to another, each giving a portion of what should be a whole sum made available under only one institution or specialized hospital where we can each go to for treatments without cost or financial ruin.

While politicians talk about the mythical universal health care that megalomaniacs want to take credit for, while legislators keep blabbering about the need to legislate for transparency in health care and medical bills to prevent personal bankruptcy but have not come up with anything, here we are finding solutions for each other, walking around with invisible begging bowls, ultimately relying on prayers and God’s unconditional love.

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