I am a young guy in my 30’s who for most of his life has been happy and very healthy. I have been employed in one profession or another since I was a teenager, and for most of that time have also had some form of health insurance to rely on just in case. Thankfully, I had very little use for it most of my life.

Most recently, I worked for a large and well-respected private-sector company here in Washington, and had top-notch health insurance as part of my benefits. When the economy tanked, it affected me pretty severely. I was laid off through no fault of my own (along with many other employees) as a result of company staff cutbacks and downsizing. Along with that went my health insurance benefits of course.

After a few months of being laid off and looking for gainful employment, I was diagnosed with cancer, and let’s just call it a “male” type of cancer. The diagnosis was terrifying to say the least, as I’m sure you can imagine. So, being uninsured, I sought out options for help and financial assistance for treatment, which obviously had to be administered to me sooner than later.

I found the Whatcom Alliance for Healthcare Access online, and made an appointment to come in. After I was qualified/approved for assistance/help from various different medical entities, I began treatment. There were so many medical staff people, imaging technicians, nurses, doctors, specialists, radiologists, billing staff, etc. that I lost count of it all. It can be very confusing, especially as WAHA has contacts and many different funding sources. Without them to guide a patient, one would be lost in an extreme state of confusion and uncertainty.

As I’m sure you can surmise, all the medical appointments, surgery, imaging, body “scans,” follow-ups, recovery, medications, and ensuing daily long-term cancer treatments (radiation or chemo-therapy) can all add up to be an enormous debt and medical bill, and will also add to the already present mental stress one has to go through during a medical nightmare such as something like this. A little relief and enormous help financially made all the difference in the world.

To date, I no longer “have” cancer, and have successfully recovered from it all 100 percent. I will need yearly follow-ups for the next couple years, but as of now came out of the storm a survivor. I have always been a pretty self-reliant resourceful person, and this was the first time I needed outside financial help in regards to a medical issue. WAHA was an absolutely wonderful and immense help, and I than k them all, along with the medical providers and “entities” that “donate” service to the temporarily indigent, and to those with zero health insurance. The people at St. Joseph’s/PeaceHealth Medical Center and their “Bridge Assistance” program are also to be especially commended, including all of those employees at their cancer center

To me, it was ironic in a way. All the years I had insurance, I didn’t really need or use it much, and right after I lost it, is when I needed it the most.

There is help from good people out there, it is just a matter of finding it if you need it. I wish you all luck and good health!