been there, done that and maybe felt as you did in my 30's. Fast forward another 20 or 30 years and life becomes very different.

Most people are just one major illness away from having their lives ripped apart.

Should we even mention those who never had a chance because of family and circumstances into which they were born. They never had a chance, we have met too many people at Hope Lodge in those circumstances along this very long cancer road.

Glad you like your niche, we did as well, but illness and age put us in our proper place.

What are your annual out of pocket expenses, do you know what they are, I'm not speaking of deductibles, they are just a drop in the bucket. Honestly if you asked me when I was 40 I would not have had a clue. Would you be able to sustain your living standards without your normal salary and on top of that be able to pay the annual out pocket expenses year after year plus additional travel costs for treatment?

First year our annual out of pocket deductible was $11,500 in 2010, fortunately it dropped to $8,500 in subsequent years, but we have met the annual out of pocket maximum every year since, coupled with an 80% drop in salary. We are fortunate to have family and friends that have been able to help.

We are very lucky though, as our ever increasing insurance premiums still covers most providers, many insurance plans do not cover state of the art hospitals, so check your plan, many people think they are covered, increasingly their insurance is only covered for their state or a few states away.

We met someone at Hope Lodge in NYC year from Florida in 2015 when my husband had his second allogeneic transplant, but their insurance had to wait to and skip a few states forward, so they had to wait, three states at a time, until their insurance was accepted at Columbia and Cornell. She spent almost two years in NYC and is doing well, we saw her two weeks ago for a check up and she is doing very well

But there is a reason that two-thirds of people who file for bankruptcy for medical reasons HAD a good job and HAD good insurance.

In essence you never know what life might have in store for you, did we envision one bone marrow transplant, let alone two and all the associated costs and risks that many could not even endure.

We are very lucky as we had some retirement saving to fall back upon and some family that were able to help, but there are many who do not have that safety net.

There are many people we have met on this long journey at Hope Lodge who have not survived, maybe because luck was not on their side, they did not have the best treatment or support.

Sorry this is probably not the response you envisioned, but times change so quickly, as the old saying goes, try and place yourself in another person's shoes.

You ever know what life has in store for you, hopefully it is the best!