Four years ago, Sarah Coleman started having headaches, never dreaming that it would lead to a diagnosis of brain cancer.
Initially surgery and treatment seemed to put her in remission, but that relief was short lived. It came back a year and a half later, viciously. Soon she began having difficulties walking, remembering, and finally, taking care of herself. Her husband Bill, who is an active duty E6 in the Coast Guard, tried to hold it all together. He balanced his service in the military with running a household, taking care of two small children, and Sarah. Even though Sarah was now a part of the special needs program and had been for years, there was no coverage within TRICARE for in home aid or long-term care when its needed for daily living activities. So, Bill continued to do it all.
The story is already terrible, but it gets worse. Sarah began falling, all the time. It didn’t matter that her husband was only sleeping two hours a night because he was trying to work, take care of everyone and keep her safe, she still fell and often. The bruises she continually had, started being documented by her speech therapy team. Then fear set in. Bill now had to worry that he would be charged with abuse or neglect and have both his wife and children taken away from him.
So, he had to make a choice that no one should ever have to. Possible jail or possible bankruptcy, since the average cost of a long-term facility was anywhere from $4500-$6000 a month, which is more than he is paid by the military. Finally, a facility heard the family’s story and reduced the cost by half to $2150. Family members helped Bill cover part of the cost and eventually Sarah was approved for Medicaid but even that only covered half. He was told she would need this care for years.
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