OCR Text |
Show Cancer Research Continues Toward Lofty Goal A 60-year-old man dying of cancer could go home-if he had money to rent a hospital bed and equipment. A housewife with breast cancer must pay for transportation transport-ation from her rural home to Salt Lake City for extensive chemotherapy. But she and her husband live on fixed income and their insurance only covers inpatient surgery. A 21-year-old woman, given 6 to 12 months to live, and her student husband of only three months are faced with large bills for anti-cancer drug treatment. A hospital kitchen helper, low paid and with no insurance, insur-ance, needs help to purchase a t bilateral breast prosthesis to i regain her self-image after I having both breast removed. When cancer strikes, it can i literally "take everything" I from the finances and savings I of the patient and his family, according to Virginia Conkl-I Conkl-I ing, head of the Service s Committee of the Utah Divis-f Divis-f ion, American Cancer Society. The above patients are only - iiiln.. a few of the hundreds each year the Cancer Society has been able to help through its direct service program to patients. Patients with cancer can receive a limited amount of money from the Society for certain services, Miss Conkl-ing Conkl-ing said. This includes help with transportation to and from treatment, housing if they are from out-of-town, medication, radiation therapy, and home care equipment such as wheelchairs and hospital beds. The Cancer Society does not, however, pay for hospital or doctor bills. Last year, the Utah Division gave $22,519 worth of direct financial service to 363 patients. pati-ents. This year, the projected budget of $23,000 recently had to be increased by another $4,500 because so many patients are seeking help. For instance, Miss Conkling observed obser-ved that from September 1975 to May 1976, 280 patients were served; in the same period a year ago, the figure was 187. In addition to direct financial finan-cial help, an important part of the service workers' job is referring patients to various other community agencies from which they can receive aid, noted Miss Conkling, who is a social worker at the LDS Hospital. "Patients need not be' ! destitute to receive services," i she added. "Of course, they ! cannot be extremely well off, I but few are when they have ; been stricken with the expens-i expens-i es of this disease." "We must not only concern ourselves with research to I eventually wipe out this killer, i and education to save lives, ; but with making more comfort-i comfort-i able the lives of those who have fallen victim to cancer," said Dr. Harry Hicks, Utah Division President. |