Taking Control of your Finances while Fighting Cancer!

Here are a few of my personal tricks for taking control of your financial situation. Below is how I finally took control. If you follow the steps you can too. These are only a suggestion and I make no claims as to your situation or bills.

It works for me.

You have more power than you think. It looks like a mountain of bills but the way to move a mountain is by one shovel full of dirt at a time.

YOU are the shovel and the techniques below will be the moving of the dirt.


I have been fighting cancer for 18 years. I've had well over a million dollars worth of doctor bills just from the first bout alone! After I was in remission for a few years we sold our home, husband quit his job of 20 years and we moved to Georgia.

Long story short, his new job does not have insurance and the cancer reared it's ugly head AGAIN.

The Dr. bills are horrible. Each Neupogen/ Neulasta shot is between $5,000. And $7,000. each.. Taxotere was $19,000. per bag JUST for the chemo for 26 weeks. It was another $6,000. to have the pharmacist at the hospital mix it plus add in Aloxi and the other pre-meds YOUCH!

I've tried to coordinate cat scans and ultra sounds between two doctors and it seemed to work once except they are on different time frames.

I have thyroid issues and heart issues too. Add in one of the tumors pressing on my Ureter and the Doctor bills never seem to end. BUT.. I'm alive and I've been at this for 18 years.

Bottom line is… if I DO finally die... the bills won't be my responsibility. I know it's a burden for my husband but he'd rather have me walking on this earth with him than have money in his retirement account. I'm sure your family feels that way too!

I've dealt with this for so many years I don't really let it bother me anymore. It's a process of accepting the situation. We used humor "Look honey! We got another bill for $43,000. in the mail again today!"

I learned a long time ago with cancer...

Don't worry about it unless the doctor TELLS you to worry about it. (i.e. test, results, scans, procedures, chemo, surgery even money).

If you do.. you waste precious energy and resources your body doesn't need to lose. After all… he's already told you, you have cancer how much worse can it get??????????

He's already DROPPED the 'C' bomb.

This is my friendly advice about your Dr. Bills.

Take control. Yes, YOU! TAKE CONTROL!

It's the feeling of being out of control that makes things harder to handle.

1) Promise each - Doctor, Hospital, provider of medical care, anesthesiologist, etc. whomever you owe a medical bill of over $25., the least amount they will accept per month. I pay most of mine $5.00 per month. (You may be able to pay more but try to resist the urge and pay more as instructed below). Bills under $25. try to pay off right away or in two payments do not set up $5. payments for little bills).

I paid my last batch of bills $5. each except the hospital which accepted $25. Because the bill with them is sky high.

There IS a negotiation process. They won’t want to go that low. I even had one Doctor's office say it cost them more than $5. Per month to process the bill. I WANTED TO jokingly say ‘then don’t send me a bill for 20 months and that will pay the bill off in full!

But DIDN’T… You need them to work with you. And YES.. they CAN and WILL take as little as $5. Per month if you explain the process below to them and assure them you will be paying them off as soon as possible. Be firm no, be insistent! You may have to get very firm!

2) Renegotiate
If you've already set payments that are too high to swallow, call them and discuss it with them. If you HAVEN’T set a payment plan yet.. CALL THEM AND DISCUSS IT ASAP!
Remember… they ALL want their money and they make it hard for you to lower your payment.
Stand firm when you tell them all you can afford is $5. Per month then TELL them you are going to do the process outlined here and you will get them more money faster if they accept a lower payment for a few months.

3) Gather your bills -
a) Make a file folder for each person you owe.

b) Put in a piece of notebook paper labeled with the Doctors name, address, phone number, account number for EACH bill and the amount you've agreed to pay them each month. Log your payments on this paper every month. Be sure it includes the ACCOUNT NUMBER, check number (or confirm number for online checking payments) Date and amount.
Hint: Log the account number of each bill as some doctors send each bill as a separate account number. It’s best for just a few bills NOT to try to combine bills. If you’ve had surgery and have a large hospital bill our hospital will combine bills. It’s WAY easier to pay one bill than 35 little bills. UGH!

c) Find the lowest bill you owe (over $25, remember those under $25. we will try to pay off all at once right away). Once you have negotiated payments down to a $5. Use the difference between what you WERE paying and the new payment of $5. to pay off all the small bills ($25. or less). Every time a small bill comes in ($25. or less) PAY IT… sometimes I get bills for $11.00 and I pay those right away.

d) TELL the doctor’s offices the strategy you are using to get everyone paid off. Everyone gets $5. per month unless it's a small bill of $25. Or less (sometimes I have to split the $25. into two payments) which brings me to the next step.

e) While you are paying off the all the small bills as they come in the mail, take the next higher bill and pay as much as you can on it and give everyone else their $5. payment. I try to split this 'high bill' into even increments. $100. bill due... splits into 4- $25. Sometimes you have enough money to make a $50. first payment then 2-$25 payments. After four months (or two with a larger first payment) it's paid off!

I realize you will keep getting new bills every month but if you can plug away at this system.. it really works.

f) If you've promised Dr. X $5. and he accepts, call him when it's his turn to get a bigger payment. Tell the girls in the billing office you’re going to start sending bigger payments of _________and try to get them paid off. (remember to split evenly large bills even if you need to make 12 payments or more and make a larger first payment if you possibly can).Tell them the strategy you are using. THANK them for working with you.

Keep your promise.

Don't miss payments.

Ask if they have a financial aid program and see if you qualify!

4) Buy a notebook or copy paper to make a 'Call Sheet'. When you are calling a medical provider write their name in the upper right hand corner ‘Butterfly Medical Center’. In the upper LEFT hand corner write the date, time you called, time they picked up the phone (sometimes you are on hold 20 minutes or longer) and then S/W which equals ‘Spoke With’. The first thing you enter is the name of who you were talking to. BE SURE TO ASK.

(It's very empowering if you have an issue to call the office and say 'I spoke with 'Jenna' on June 1st at 10:33 am, I asked her 'blah blah blah' and she said 'blah blah blah' and transferred me to 'Betty'.

Pre-write your questions on this ‘Call Sheet’ paper. Leave spaces in between to write in their answers. If you get transferred to someone else… write ‘trans to’ and ask their name and write it down. (Sometimes you get transferred several times in one call!). Keep each paper in it’s file folder with the bill for each individual person you owe.

I staple EVERYTHING. I staple the payment sheet to the inside of the folder and the bills I called about to the ‘call sheet’ just to keep everything together. File the papers in their folder from OLDEST on bottom to newest on top. This makes things easier when searching for a particular bill or 'Call Sheet'.

P.S. Try applying for Social Security. Not everyone will qualify but if you do, apparently, Medicare covers all but 20%. Not to mention monthly benefits. I am not an expert about it but it was worth mentioning.

In closing:
Getting organized and keeping things straight will help you feel more in control of your situation. Being proactive about your bills is empowering!

I'm also going to write a post about organizing your Medical Records! Check it out!