Cancer sure is Lifus Interruptus.

A few days ago, a friend dropped by with a section of The Toronto Star’s “Women and Cancer” and I finally got a chance to read it over the weekend. I noticed an article by Elvira Cordileone entitled “When finances add to burden“.

I couldn’t find the link directly through The Star’s web site (I guess they don’t want people to find information easily) and ended up finding Elvira’s article at HealthZone.ca (okay, so it’s part of The Toronto Star, but I didn’t know that).

The woman who was the subject of the article, clearly resonated with me since Ms. McDowell’s story mirrors mine in many ways: I was (and still am in some ways) the sole caregiver for my mother who had bowel cancer 15 years ago (then Alzheimer’s for over 10 years before placing her in longterm care), she’s self employed as I am and she also refused chemotherapy as I did — due in whole to the worry of money and being able to pay the bills … or at least how to support yourself during a lengthy or permanent medical crisis.

The Women’s College Hospital has counsellors available to provide information and access to financial support. I called this morning and they are only open a few days a week: their number is 416-323-6400 ext. 4240. They are part of Wellspring and the name of the service is Money Matters — if there is a Wellspring near you, contact them directly as they may have Money Matters at that facility as well. The Wellspring in my area has a Money Matters which is much easier than having to trek into the city.

I’m making the presumption that the service is free, but won’t know until I’ve had a chance to speak to them …

… and what a coincidence that I have my first interview tomorrow morning regarding disability benefits: I don’t even know if I’m eligible because I’m self-employed.

I’ll keep you posted … wish me luck!

The Neilsen Ratings and Cancer.

I’ve been a Neilsen household for 3 years now. I can say that because Neilsen was purchased by BBM in Canada and the equipment was removed from my house a few days ago. I don’t have to be sworn to secrecy any longer as they are no longer collecting data from my tv watching habits.

What has the Neilsen Ratings and cancer have in common? Not much really, but watching television sure helped my recovery as I sat in an almost comatose state for months on end in front of the tv while recuperating from surgery, gangrene and the myriad of other physical ailments that plagued me.

When Neilsen first contacted me, they were so excited to find a middle-aged woman, not only single, but also living alone in the suburbs. They told me that my statistics resemble at least 10,000 middle-aged single women. They also warned me that networks such as Global would pay me to watch shows like Prison Break … so I was very careful about not letting people know about the box with the red flashing lights next to my tv.

I sure hope those other 10,000 women didn’t get cancer like I did … that would be sad.

I wonder what the Neilsen Ratings think of my television watching habits … and apparently 10,000 other women just like me. You see, I like wacky reality television: from Survivor and Amazing Race to National Geographic to the best reality show ever, The News.

I got tired of series’ that would get cancelled (Quantum Leap, Dark Skies, to name a few) … or shows like The Sopranos that would start when the writers felt like it … and quite frankly, I really don’t care why Tony Soprano is a murderer … what was in his childhood or what formed his personality … don’t care! If I want plot and character development, I would read a good book to escape into the characters, not turn on the boob tube. So reality tv is great because I don’t have to care about plot and character development ever.

I think The Sopranos was the last time I watched any kind of series, and I didn’t watch their last season for the reasons I mention above.

So farewell to Neilsen … I hope BBM comes back to my neighbourhood and scouts for new homes … although I hear they’ll be using some sort of paging system that people have to wear … it doesn’t sound very practical to me.

If you ever wonder how the media claims that there are 20 million people watching the Oscars, now you know … not me  though: I and presumably the other 10,000 women like me don’t watch awards shows either.

See you on the flip side …