Financial Help for Women with Metastatic Breast Cancer

January 27, 2012

CancerCare has launched a new program to provide financial help to women coping with metastatic breast cancer. The program, “CancerCare – Get You There,” provides financial assistance grants for transportation to and from treatment.

To learn more about CancerCare’s financial assistance programs or download an application, visit www.cancercare.org/financial. Or, call 800-813-HOPE (4673).

Metastatic breast cancer is the most advanced stage of breast cancer, which is among the most commonly diagnosed cancers in women. We offer free support services for anyone affected by metastatic breast cancer, including support groups available online and over the telephone.

View all of our resources for women coping with breast cancer. 

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1000 Cranes of Hope

December 14, 2009

The ancient Japanese tradition of senbazuru promises that a person who folds 1000 origami cranes will be granted a wish, such as long life or recovery from illness.

Boston-based Millennium Pharmaceuticals, owned by the Japanese pharmaceutical, The Takeda Company, recently launched a website honoring the senbazuru tradition, where people facing cancer–patients, caregivers, loved ones–can express their hopes and wishes for the New Year. Each message of hope posted at the site is represented by a bird-shaped paper figurine.

 Millennium Pharmaceuticals is a funder of CancerCare’s Door to Door program, which provides financial assistance to cover transportation costs for people undergoing treatment for multiple myeloma.

Leave your wish at 1000 Cranes of Hope.com (the site is free but log-in registration is required). For every wish left at the site, Millennium will make a donation to a healthcare-related charity.

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Increasing Distance and Cost of Travel Adds Extra Burden for Cancer Patients Facing Surgery

September 2, 2009

The trend toward the centralization of where cancer surgeries are performed puts an increased travel burden on patients, according to new findings reported in this month’s issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Numerous studies show that hospitals that perform a higher number of surgeries per year for a specific diagnosis have better patient outcomes. Especially for rare diagnoses, these high-volume hospitals (HVHs) are highly recommended, and patients are heeding this advice. According to this latest study, the number of procedures performed at HVHs increased significantly over the 10-year period examined (1996-2006).

HVHs tend to be located in larger metropolitan areas that are a longer distance from many patients’ homes, the study shows, especially for patients with esophageal and pancreatic cancers, who endured the highest increase in travel distance from home to the facility where their surgeries were performed.

The cost of traveling farther distances for their care may pose a significant barrier to patients with limited resources, the study’s authors suggest. CancerCare helps by providing limited transportation grants to eligible individuals through our Financial Assistance program. CancerCare also assists multiple myeloma patients with treatment-related transportation costs through our Door to Door program.

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New Program for Multiple Myeloma Patients Offers Help with Transportation Costs

July 20, 2009

door-to-door

Are you (or someone you know) being treated for multiple myeloma? If so, you may qualify for a new financial assistance program from CancerCare that helps defray the cost of getting to and from your medical care appointments. Called “Door to Door,” the new program offers grants of up to $600 annually to multiple myeloma patients to cover transportation costs such as gasoline, tolls and parking, and taxi, bus and cab fare.

Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the bone marrow. About  20,000 people are diagnosed with this type of cancer each year in the U.S.  Advances in the treatment of this cancer have dramatically increased patients’ life expectancy–an estimated 60,000 people in the U.S. are now living with multiple myeloma–and consequently lengthened the duration of treatment, which often is given several times a week over many months.

Particularly for patients on a fixed income, these travel expenses add up and create a financial burden that may prevent them from keeping up with their health care, notes CancerCare Exeuctive Director Diane Blum. “The Door to Door program will provide much-needed relief to this patient population.”

For more information, call 800-813-HOPE (4673) or visit www.cancercare.org.

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