CANCER COST ME A FORTUNE

Annie Bennett wasn’t prepared for the financial fallout her diagnosis would cause

- ANNIE BENNETT

On 2 July 2024, I was told by an NHS oncologist that I had incurable breast cancer.

As I received this lifechanging news, I thought about how my family would react, and the treatment I was about to undergo. I didn't feel scared of the illness - more numbed by the thought of the inevitable upheaval. But there was one thing I was afraid of. How was I going to manage financially? Depleted funds are a consequence of this disease and I don’t think that is talked about enough. How does a cancer patient manage the cost?

I first noticed the lump in my breast back in April 2024, the result of a check while I was getting dressed. There was no panic, just a practical decision made to contact my GP.

Following an initial consultation there were a significant number of appointments with breast surgeons and oncologists over 10 weeks, as well as scans - many of which meant 40-mile drives. The cost of those trips, around £150, began to hit me hard.

JUGGLING COMMITMENTS

I'm a baker and, at the time, I had two branches of my business. One was teaching other bakers how to run a business, mainly online, but the other was as a wedding cake maker.

My income was around £2,000 a month. But after my diagnosis, hospital visits took at least one day out of each working week, meaning I had to postpone and cancel online training and squeeze cake preparation into fewer days. No sick pay and time away from the business for hospital visits meant more lost income - not to mention, the days when I'd be unwell and unable to work.