$447.89, $74.27, $17, $48.04, $75.70, $11.63, $259.19, $566.28

No one likes being sick. On top of feeling terrible you hand over your hard earned cash with the hope that the doctor's services will make you well. I began working for Bank of America in 2000 while I was a student in seminary. Banking was not my primary passion in life, but one reason for continuing my career with BofA after finishing seminary was due to the practical nature of having a good health insurance. For 8 years I spent about $5000 annually for insurance for my entire family. After small copays, the insurance covered our nearly all of our medical bills-an by "our medical bills." I mean primarily my medical bills mine.

Recently, my insurance benefits changed. Along with normal copays, they began requring me to pay for 20% of the medical bills. That doesn't sound too bad on paper but in the real world that 20% adds up fast. In the month of January alone, I have already spent $1476.96 in medical bills. And in comparison, the amount above is a close to the amount I had to pay all last year.

I do not share this so that you can feel sorry for us. I share this so that you might have an accurate understanding of our journey. Cancer is costly in so many ways-finacially is only one of them! Cancer has a profound influence on every area of my/our lives: emotionally, spiritually, physcially, socially, and monitarily.