Bills pile up following cancer diagnosis
Share the Season is an annual campaign that offers one-time aid to people affected by unforeseen hardships. The people are not identified to protect their privacy.
The 47-year-old woman was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in February. She found out at 9 p.m. one night when her doctor called and told her to get to the hospital.
She has worked all her life.
“I didn’t make enough money, so I worked two jobs,” she said, as a substitute teacher and at a restaurant.
Until now, she has never been on disability.
“I had a really hard time getting medical coverage, really hard,” she said.
As she has fought cancer, bills have begun to pile up – her property tax, her utilities, insurance, medical bills and more.
It’s hard for her to talk about. She cries as she speaks.
“When I became disabled in February of this year, I applied for KanCare,” she wrote on her application to Share the Season. “It took them 3 months to get it approved and I had to go without many prescriptions.”
She was finally approved in May.
“I have applied for Obamacare and I get insurance for $40 but it doesn’t start til the first of the year,” she wrote. “I have not paid the KanCare premium yet but my medications, surgery and chemo for this month are way more than $700.”
She has had more than eight surgeries since the diagnosis.
The tumor on her pancreas has now become small enough where doctors now feel they can operate. She is scheduled for another surgery Dec. 29.
In the meantime, Share the Season has helped her pay some bills.
“They treated me with so much respect,” she said. “They have taken so much stress off.”
Share the Season is a joint project of The Eagle, the Wichita Community Foundation and the Salvation Army.
So far this season, it has raised more than $150,000.
Send contributions to Share the Season at the Wichita Community Foundation, 301 N. Main, Suite 100, Wichita, KS 67202. To donate online, go to www.sharetheseason.org. If you have questions about donating, call 316-264-4880.
Donors will be listed in The Eagle; please note if you prefer to remain anonymous.
To apply for help, fill out an application at www.sharetheseason.org or pick one up at the Salvation Army, 350 N. Market. The application deadline is Dec. 17. For more information, call 316-263-2769.
Among reent donors: Accel Construction LLC; Veronica Bulla in memory of Bob Bulla; Victoria Cavender; Jeaninne Ewertz; Joseph and Sandra Francel; Thomas and Denise Glenn; Mark Holmes; Mary Koehler in memory of Harold Koehler; Julia Madden; Dee O’Rourke and Bruce Peters in memory of Vera O’Rourke; River City Ladies Club; Larry and Colleen Schaar; John and Barbara Swain; Anonymous in honor of Anthony Sota; Anonymous in memory of Gary Nicholson, Mary Galydart and Greg Smith; Anonymous in memory of Mary Coyle and Brant Vance; and nine anonymous donors.
This story was originally published December 15, 2016 at 4:39 PM with the headline "Bills pile up following cancer diagnosis."