Poverty and Cancer

I wish. I wish I had an answer. I wish I had the resources. I wish.

Through my years of volunteering, I have had the sad experience of walking through a cancer diagnosis with several people in third world conditions. That ugly C-word is never good, but in poverty, it is so much more draining and sad. The hoops the patients have to jump through are ridiculous, and everything is more complicated and bureaucratic.

One of the first patients I encountered lived in a shack in Matamoros, Mexico. She was already in her last days, but she was fighting hard. There were no treatments in the town just minutes across the border from Brownsville, Texas, so she had to ride a bus three hours south to a larger city in Mexico, get her treatments, and ride a bus back as she suffered the nausea and pain of the treatments. She had no income, no insurance, no bus money, no money to purchase the pain meds, and no family to help her through the rough effects of chemo. I visited her every day, praying with her, helping her find resources, but her only relief came in the next life.

Another more hopeful case was the story of my Cuban pastor, Joel. Cuba brags of its fine medical system, but the government does not reveal that only the top brass have access to it. Joel had no anesthesia for a painful bone marrow test, and the room was so filthy, his wife scrubbed it with cleaning supplies from home before allowing the test to proceed. The diagnosis of multiple myeloma was followed by the news that the medicine for that type of cancer was not available in Cuba. After contacting doctors here, we discovered that the med we were looking for was not the current protocol.

The chain of events that occurred next were only by the hand of God. Joel and his wife were able to obtain tourist visas to come to the United States, and with the correct meds, Joel is now in remission. Looking back at his tests in Cuba, Joel realized that they were telling him he was beating cancer while his tests showed his numbers were going up and up. If he had stayed in Cuba, only God knows.

This past year while working with children in Juarez, a grandmother asked me for help for her cancer treatments in Chihuahua, a long bus ride away. She made a few trips and got the news that her treatments were now available in Juarez. But, she had to request her records and return in person to pick them up when they were ready. No electronic communications.

She got her records and was able to start her treatments in Juarez, but the pain meds were not available at the hospital. Even when she had to be hospitalized, the pain meds were not available. Her daughter had to go to several drug stores to find the vary expensive patches. Just yesterday, her daughter asked me for help to buy more patches. I sent her some money, but I just got word today that she passed. I don’t know if she got the relief beforehand or not. I hope so. Praise God she now has eternal peace without pain.

We complain a lot about our healthcare system in the United States. Yes, it’s expensive. Yes, insurance is high. Yes, medicine prices are ridiculous. But, we also have so many safety nets and programs to help make a terrible diagnosis a little easier to navigate. I for one am very thankful for the medical system we have here. Kidney transplants and hip replacements are unreachable dreams for most people in third world countries. Even a unit of blood must be paid for or replaced before it is administered. Families have to provide most supplies, even for housekeeping. Let’s all be more grateful for and appreciative of the healthcare we have, and help each other carry the loads we’ve been given.