Radiation and Insurance (Medicaid) Nightmares: Breast Cancer Treatment in Your 20s

Hi everyone! I am 18 days into radiation treatment for metastatic breast cancer, and it has taken a turn for the worse. I have been debating whether I should share my story with you guys or not, because I don't want to scare anyone that will be getting radiation, but I decided that this site is made for us to be able to share information, and if we don't keep things real with each other, then who will? Plus, not everyone reacts the same to radiation. 

Radiation Treatment for Stage 4 Breast Cancer in My 20s 

When I first started my radiation treatments everything was fine. I go Monday through Friday for 15 minutes each day. Just last week I started feeling a burning sensation, and I noticed that my skin was changing big time. I know that it is normal to have a change of color and irritation, but it looked too weird.

During the next few days I looked at it again, and it was pretty gross. My skin and especially under my arm looks like salami, seriously SALAMI!!

It is reddish and purplish with dark almost black spots all over. I asked my doctor to take a look, and it turns out that I'm having a bad reaction to the radiation. There is this thing called bolis that they put on my chest when they apply the radiation, and it actually brings the radiation to the surface, so it is making my skin raw.

They have decided to use the bolis every other day to see what happens. They have also given me a prescription ointment that I am to apply 4 times a day to try to help my skin. I have 7 days left of radiation, and I'm scared that my skin won't hold up. It is also becoming pretty painful to wear my bra and my shirts, so I have been staying home a lot so that I can be comfortable.

My Insurance (Medicaid) Dropped Me "Like a Bad Habit" --In the Middle of Breast Cancer Treatment

Also since my salami-pepporoni-pizza-looking skin isn't enough, my insurance decided to drop me like a bad habit without even letting me know. I was on my way to radiation, and the front desk let me know I was no longer insured.

I had a wonderful panic and sob attack in front of like 15 people, and during the radiation treatment, because of the shocking news, everyone thought I was going to faint. I had black mascara running down my face since I had gotten all dolled up for a lunch I planned for after treatment... it was horrible.

"Now I'll Die for Sure Because I Can't Afford to Have Cancer"

Cancer treatments are so expensive, especially radiation, that a million things started going through my mind. I kept thinking oh my god what am I going to do, now I'll for sure die because I can't afford to have cancer. The receptionist calmed me down and assured me that, with insurance or not, I would still have my treatments and that no one would cut me off of getting medical help with money or not and that there are places I can call.

Just to give you guys some background on what's going on, when I got cancer I was 26 years old and didn't have insurance, so I was able to get Medicaid due to the seriousness of my illness and basically having low income. I thank God that things like Medicaid exist because I don't know what I would have done without it.