A Vital Lifeline

The Cancer Compassion Fund Helps Cancer Patients Overcome Financial Barriers

Loretta Norberry is thankful for the Cancer Compassion Fund, which has helped her pay for her medications.

At 5:30 every morning, before the Northern California heat sets in, Loretta Norberry laces up her shoes and heads out the door with her two dogs, Lucy and Rue Jean.

At 76, Loretta stays busy. She tends flower beds and fruit trees in her yard, attends community clubs in the evenings, and treasures the active life she has built. It’s not the life most people imagine for someone living with a rare blood cancer.

Years ago, during a routine blood donation, something didn’t look right. Further testing led to a diagnosis of Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia, a rare blood cancer that affects only a small percentage of the population. Along with the diagnosis came a lifesaving medication and a staggering cost.

“The copay was $3,000 a month,” Norberry said. “I explained that I was on Social Security and struggling just to pay bills.”

Like many cancer patients, Norberry suddenly found herself facing two battles: the disease itself and the financial burden that came with treating it.

No one plans for a cancer diagnosis. Even fewer are prepared for the costs that can arrive almost immediately: a prescription that can’t wait, a deductible that must be met, a treatment that could mean the difference between stability and progression.

For many patients, the question becomes painfully simple: Do I pay for my medication or do I pay for everything else?

That’s where the Cancer Compassion Fund comes in.

Through the Enloe Health Foundation, the fund helps cancer patients overcome financial barriers by covering essential expenses, including medication costs. More recently, the fund has become a critical resource for patients who struggle to meet high insurance deductibles for costly oral cancer therapies.

“We try to do everything possible to ensure treatment is not delayed due to financial reasons,” said Jocelyn Yau, Specialty Pharmacy Manager at Enloe Health.

Before the fund’s medication assistance program launched earlier this year, patients often had to navigate lengthy manufacturer assistance programs that could take weeks to approve. Those delays could mean waiting to start treatment during one of the most frightening times in a person’s life.

Now, help can arrive almost immediately.

“So far, we have more than 50 patients enrolled,” Yau said. “We’re able to get these patients started on important medications much sooner.”

For patients, that speed matters. A cancer diagnosis often arrives with a flood of uncertainty, fear and difficult decisions. The Cancer Compassion Fund removes at least one of those worries.

“It bridges that financial gap,” said Elizabeth Cadd, Director of the Enloe Health Foundation. “Patients shouldn’t have to choose between their treatment and their basic everyday needs.”

Since January, the medication assistance program alone has provided tens of thousands of dollars in support, helping dozens of patients access the medications they need to continue fighting cancer.

For Norberry, that support meant consistency. There was never a delay in receiving the medication her doctors prescribed. The assistance allowed her to focus less on bills and more on living.

Today, she continues to walk her dogs, care for her garden and fill her days with the activities she loves. Norberry said she is deeply grateful for the support she received.

But her story is about more than financial assistance. It is a reminder that behind every cancer diagnosis is a person who simply wants the chance to keep living normally, Cadd said.

“Sometimes compassion looks like a check written by a donor,” she added. “Sometimes it looks like medication arriving on time. Sometimes it looks like one less thing to worry about on one of life’s darkest days.”

And for patients like Norberry, that compassion can make all the difference. If you would like to support the Cancer Compassion Fund, visit www.enloe.org/donate and select “Cancer Compassion” fund to make a gift.