Another odd month over here at chaos central. Including the house move, a couple of hospital stays, a week of feeling really poorly, and then an incredible trip to NYC. All ending with another dose of treatment! I’m starting to lose track of my life.

More importantly than all of that however, is the fact that the UK voted yesterday in a crucial general election. It has made me think a lot about the NHS, and where I would be right now without the care that I have received over the past 6 months. As I’ve mentioned before, I follow the stories of quite a few other women with stage IV melanoma from across the world. Something that has always stood out when reading their blog posts is the cost that many people have to front for exactly the same treatments as I am getting here in the UK. I don’t know the entirety of my NHS ‘bill’ to date, but I can begin to imagine. Not only factoring in the complex treatments I have received, but the multitude of scans, blood tests, investigatory procedures, hospital stays, medications that run alongside treatment, all contribute, I’m sure, to a very hefty (and ongoing) total. The number of face to face appointments I have had with consultants, in my opinion, really are priceless. Knowing that I can pick up the phone at any time and call Dr F is probably what has kept me sane over the past 6 months, and able to carry on with life.

I can’t stop thinking about one story in particular. Hailey, who lives in the United States and is a couple of years younger than me, racked up a bill of $568,000 within 3 months of being diagnosed with melanoma. I didn’t really understand much about health insurance and how it works until delving deeper. You’re still expected to pay excess on any insurance policy, so having insurance doesn’t exempt you from huge costs. Hailey explains that with her savings, in addition to insurance monies, she was able to continue having treatment. She is a year down the line from initial diagnosis, and is officially in remission! What if she hadn’t been able to afford the immunotherapy drugs? How can anybody put a cost on someone’s life? It baffles me. I also think that Hailey, a hard working woman who contributes hugely to society, shouldn’t be penalised by having to use up her savings because she’s had the rotten luck of a cancer diagnosis. During the hardest time in her life, it should surely be the other way around.