May 14, 2009
The Cost of Cancer
I am amazed at the cost of everything associated with my Primary Peritoneal Carcinoma.
At my initial hospital stay(24 hours spanning 2 days), where many tests were ordered, the bill for the hospital alone was over $5,000. The tests cost about the same.
My Doctors visits run anywhere from about $300 to $500 per visit, depending on the amount of time that is needed for the visit.
The Portacath installation procedure ran over $13,000 and that was without an overnight hospital stay.
My Chemo drugs cost a little over $5,000 per treatment. Actually, I just received a complete bill for one Chemo session — it was almost $9,000. Then there are the charges for the equipment and the facility. Some of the Chemo patients drugs run as high as $20,000 per visit.
My weekly blood tests are the big bargain in this all — sometimes I only have an out-of-pocket of $3.50.
I can not even begin to guess what the cost of my surgery will be with the high tech robot that will be used and with an extended hospital stay.
Luckily, I have a very good insurance plan that covers most of the bills. Thank you, God for that.
