[pavilion71]

Hello everyone. My name is Aileen, 32 years old and I may have breast cancer. I am currently unemployed, no health insurance, and in desperate need of a mammogram!

I have called just about every possible number my friends and family gave me to get some type of help with this, but without any hope.

The people I talked to on the phone said either I do not qualify for any assistance due to my age(too young) or that program funds are not available.

If you have any information that you think may help me with this, I'd really appreciate it!

Thank you.

[Tony T]

I am supposing you have found lumps in your breast which may or may not be cancerous. Your situation is a medical emergency. You can go to your local health department where they are equipped to give mam,ograms to people in the community who cannot afford them. There are also free clinics in most areas where medical services are provided free of charge to those who need them. Call your local medical association for that information. Many large community churches will help someone like you who is in need. If they won't do it, ask if they would mind inquiring into their membership to see if someone in their congregation would be willing to help. Local clinics will also make arrangements for payment plans for those without insurance. A mammogram and interpretation rarely run over $250 in most places, depending on your area. Talk to your doctor, if you have one, and ask for recommendations on other means of getting this done.

Call your local county government. Most have indigent health coverage that will enable you to get the assistance you need. County governments are usually mandated to help defer the costs of those who cannot afford medical attention. If I were in your shoes, I would call an aide of one of your local county leaders, perhaps even an aide to your county administrator, and explain your predicament. Surely they will arrange for help for you.

Don't stop until you get help and get it fast. If all else fails, send me a Private Message and you will get the mammogram you need. Don't put this off!!!

[HokeyReligions]

Tony is right. I can understand how you may feel. At your age the risk of it being a cancerous tumor is lower than someone 10 years older.

What makes you think you have breast cancer? Have you had a mammogram with suspicious findings?

Type in Free Breast Cancer Screening on your search engine and you will find some good information with links to resources in your area.


I can understand how you feel. Right now I'm involved in a fundraiser for someone who was diagnosed with breast cancer two weeks after her husband lost his job. They thought the cancer was beat, but now she has cancer in pretty much every organ in her body. They lost everything trying to fight this and have no insurance and have had to move in with her parents, who are on a fixed income. Scary stuff.

I also found a lump in my breast and had a suspicious mammogram about a month before I was laid off. I was supposed to go back in June for a follow-up (I was given a course of treatment (pills) to reduce the lump) mammogram to see if the pills worked. I did not go because I no longer have insurance and don't make as much money as I did last year. I keep hoping that I will get on permanent at the company I've been contracting with and will then get insurance. If I go back now and find out I have to have a needle aspiration, and other medical tests and procedures I won't be able to apply those costs to insurance when I do become permanent because it will be a pre-existing condition. I'm much older than you too and have an elevated risk of cancer because there was cancer in my family. Also, if I'm not working then we will lose everything (I support my disabled mother and husband). Once I get health insurance to cover the cost of the tests and procedures AND long-term disability insurance to help my family if and when I'm not working, I'll go back to the doctor. Or January - whichever comes first. If I'm not covered by insurance in January I'm going back to the doctor myself and will figure out how to pay for everything. My family is prepared to move if worse comes to worse and I lose our family income. I will go to every resource within my area to help with the costs of diagnosis and treatment and maybe some of my friends will hold a benefit BBQ for me and my family if we have to. I won't think that far ahead, and you shouldn't either.

Call your local hospital and tell them that you have reason to suspect you have breast cancer, but have no insurance or money and ask them to help you. Follow Tony's advice above about finding resources, and don't let them tell you that you are too young. I got that a lot too when I was your age - thankfully back then for me it was fibroid cysts and hopefully its something simple like that for you too.