A Run for Hope

This morning I stood out for about 90 minutes in zero degree weather (with the wind it felt like -18 degrees). Why? I was manning a water stand for 100 runners participating in the Shell’s Bells Run to Recovery. It was in honor of one of the assistants at my son’s school, Shelly.

Early in 2008, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. A couple surgeries and rounds of chemo later, she has found herself at MD Anderson in a clinical research trial - experimental treatment not covered by insurance. The treatment alone has an estimated cost of $75,000 over the next 3 months. So her family and friends organized this run to raise money for the treatment. Unfortunately they missed the warm weather by a day, but that did not deter the participants and volunteers. And Shelly showed up as well; a shell of her former self, but still with a fighting spirit.

For those who think our health care system is adequate; it is. It is adequate if you never have cancer, a heart attack, MS, birth defects, disabilities. But if you have a serious disease, or God forbid, a rare disease (Shelly has an extremely rare form of ovarian cancer), the right to life, the right to keep fighting for your life, comes at an unfathomable cost. Today’s run probably will not cover the full cost of the treatment so Shelly and her family will likely have to continue to find other sources. So as their beloved fights for her life, her family’s ability to console and support has to be balanced by their ability to fundraise.

So next time you think about substantive reform to our health care system, think what if I was faced with finding hundreds of thousands of dollars to give a loved one a chance to live. There surely must be a better way; but only if we dare.