A Sad Story
Last night, I read one of the saddest news stories ever. A forty-year-old man and his thirty-nine-year-old wife, his high school sweetheart, live in Wisconsin. They have a teen-age daughter and a younger son. The man lost his job with a manufacturing firm that paid him well. Shortly after his job loss, his wife was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Fortunately, his severance agreement continued his health insurance for a few months, so her treatments were covered. About the time the insurance ran out, her treatments were complete, and she was declared in remission. However, a few months later, the cancer had metastasized into other organs, and she was back into treatment, this time with even more aggressiveness.
The husband had not yet found a new job in spite of hundreds of resume submissions and dozens of interviews. Of course, his supplemented health insurance had expired, and private insurance was absolutely unaffordable. Her medical bills were looming, as she worked part-time as a waitress. Their financial obligations were becoming unmanageable. Out of desperation, he met with an Army recruiter. Yes, the Army is now taking new recruits through age 42.
Their survival plan was for the husband to leave the family for a four year tour in the Army. The wife’s treatments would be covered by the military health care system. It was the only way out. The two children would have to take on all the household responsibilities, since mom would be too ill to do much of anything. Currently, the husband is on an Army post hundreds of miles from his family, the wife is taking debilitating chemotherapy treatments alone, and the children are taking care of their mother while becoming adults before their time. This is about the worst situation I can imagine for a family.
This is a story that tears the heart out. But, there are similar stories everywhere–right now. Cancer is an awful, devastating attack on human kind. It deserves every opposing assault we can launch at it. The dilemma is that we have been fighting it for decades with limited success. And, we will continue to have limited success as long as we don’t do anything significantly different. It’s time for a new strategy. Even if we don’t know what to do, let’s do something different. Conventional treatment alone is not working.