WATCH ABOVE: Meeting the financial cost of cancer takes it’s toll, but once cancer survivor from Vaudreuil is determined to stay positive. Rachel Lau reports.
VAUDREUIL – Mei-Lin Yee is a survivor. She was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer in 2009 and was told she wouldn’t be alive much longer.
“He said to me, through the PET scan, it looks as if you’ve been in a radioactive accident,” Yee said.
She has managed to beat the cancer, but has been warned she would be in chemotherapy for the rest of her life.
As a result of her ongoing treatments, Yee’s employer told her they could no longer afford to keep her around.
“In my case, because of having cancer, people see me as more of a liability and therefore consider me to be unemployable,” she said.
Losing her job has added another challenge to her life, as taking care of herself now has become much more expensive.
Read more: Paying for more drugs will cut health care costs for governments
Since her diagnosis, Yee has completely changed her lifestyle.
“I can easily spend $500 a month just on those extra things I’m trying to do to keep myself healthy.”
She eats healthier, buys organic food and has to go to physiotherapy, just so she can feel normal.
“I can easily spend $500 a month just on those extra things I’m trying to do to keep myself healthy, so I can survive with this illness as long as possible,” said Yee.
These extras are not covered by Quebec’s healthcare, but there are many foundations that provide funding for cancer treatment.
“No one gets rich by getting a diagnosis of cancer.”
Among them is the Canadian Cancer Society, which emphasizes that patient care must continue beyond treatment.
“We see that more and more people are affected financially by cancer,” said Andre Beaulieu, a spokesperson for the Canadian Cancer Society.
“No one gets rich by getting a diagnosis of cancer.”
Read more: Vaudreuil comes together to help a young mother with terminal cancer
Dr. Fred Saad says treatments are now made to target specific cancers, but these can cost anywhere between $50,000 – $60,000 a year.
“I understand the government has to sometimes make difficult choices,” said Saad.
“For us as physicians and patients have to lobby to get access to drugs with proven efficacy and that make a difference regardless of cost.”
Meeting the financial cost of cancer takes it’s toll, but Yee is determined to stay positive.
“I think the greatest message I have for people is live every day like it’s your last.”
She said that she’s facing each step of her treatment like it could be her last.
“Every three months, I get a scan report and if that scan doesn’t say good things, then it affects not just me it affects my whole family,” she confided.
“So we plan in three month chunks.”
She and her husband have stopped talking about the future; they’ve decided focusing on the present is more important.
“I think the greatest message I have for people is live every day like it’s your last,” said Yee.
“Don’t hold grudges. It’s not worth it.”
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