Cancer Rocked my World: "Jane's" Story - The Struggle for Resources

For “Jane”, she dealt with this same issue when her daughter was diagnosed with Glioblastoma, a bad form of brain cancer that normally occurs in older people, her daughter however is only 19, 17 at time of diagnosis. When I received the call from “Jane” she told me how she had called all of the larger organizations, especially the ones that dealt with children. What she found was a large lack of information. She didn’t understand how there could be so little assistance for her. She’s a single parent and trying to do everything she can for her daughter, and this has put several financial restraints on her already stressful situation. She needs money for rent, utilities and gas to get her daughter to treatments, and from the organizations she’s reached out to, she hasn’t found the help she needed. She was desperate and distraught, but still hopeful when she called UCAAN.

I remember talking to her about her specific needs; when we speak to a patient or their family member, we try to get as much information as possible from them, as this makes it much easier for us to provide them with the resources and support that they need. I told “Jane” about our resource database and how we had well over 1500 organizations that provided some type of support to cancer patients in need and that I would research and see which would be the best fit for what she needed. As I worked and went through the database, I documented the organizations that I felt she could benefit from. Within a few hours, I had gone through over 800 organizations in our database and found over 60 resources that I could provide her with right away. Since I didn’t want to overwhelm her with even more, I sent the resources to her and promised to continue the search UCAAN’s database in case that those organization cannot help. This is ONE of the MANY ways that UCAAN is Finding Solutions for Cancer Patients in Need.

I cannot begin to tell you the overwhelming joy I felt when I sent “Jane”: the long list of resources, it shows that we can do so much more when we put our hearts and our minds into it.

The Fact here is that Resources should NOT be difficult for patients to find. This is why we have social workers, but what if the social workers we rely on do not provide us with the information we need when we need it? How many organizations would you contact prior to giving up? For "Jane" she had almost reached that when she called us, and anyone affected by cancer has enough to worry about and shouldn't have the added stress of having to search for help. This is why UCAAN has Committed to "Finding Solutions for Cancer Patients in Need."

Rachel Pictured, in 2007 after her Terminal Diagnosis, Sporting her Butt Kicking Spirit!

This is one of the many reasons why I started UCAAN in 2009, the resources just weren't there for me and it was difficult in my position to search them all, but being a Taurus and bull headed I fought on and searched for the help I needed. In many cases, I never found the resources, but I always tried to find a solution.

This is WHY We Need Your Continued Support, so we can grow from a Grass Roots Organization into an organization big enough to fill the gaps that other organizations leave open.