It is easy to underestimate how far a dollar can go––or $450 for that matter. When you add up monthly costs in a typical American household, the list can seem endless. Enter a cancer diagnosis and suddenly the costs climb and, more often than not, become insurmountable.

Cancer expenses in the US exceed $80 billion dollars per year and result in a phenomenon called financial toxicity. Studies have shown that patients experiencing financial toxicity report having a lower quality of life, more symptoms, and more pain. In fact, one such study showed that financial toxicity was more severe than physical, emotional, social, and family distress.

Just think about that for a moment. At a time when their lives are forever altered and disrupted by cancer, some patients are worrying about how to pay their rent, how to afford groceries, how to put gas in the car, and how to pay insurance copays.

These are challenging times we are living in––and most would agree that is an understatement. Every which way you turn there are big issues at hand including the political climate, the actual climate, financial markets, the economy, the pandemic, gun violence, and so much more. Some people find that putting stressful issues to the side allows them to better cope with day-to-day concerns.

Cancer patients do not have that luxury. You can’t put cancer to the side to come back to at a different time. A cancer diagnosis is right up front and center. So, too, are the costs associated with cancer care.

Back to how far $450 can go––it can go further than some can ever imagine. That’s the magic of Cancer Lifeline’s Patient Financial Assistance Fund and its support of financially challenged cancer patients. There is a special kind of gratitude that flows both ways when helping to alleviate the stress of financial toxicity.