I did something foolish today. I added up all of our vet bills from the day Jenna was diagnosed with lymphoma to the present. And I thought, well, what the hell, the blog is supposed to be about sharing information about lymphoma, so ... I'm sharing.
Four months of chemo, plus accompanying medications and bloodwork = $6045.63
Granted, we do still have 5 more treatments to go. The chemo treatments average about $400-$500 a pop. Sometimes it's better (about $100 for the cyclophosphamide weeks) and sometimes it's worse (about $700 for the doxorubicin weeks). Bloodwork-only weeks run up just a painless $90. Sometimes after these weeks we start getting wild ideas about purchasing groceries or getting our car's shrieking brakes fixed.
We do not have veterinary insurance, because we are idiots. By the time it crossed our minds that coverage might be a good idea, both of our dogs were already churning out lamenesses and rare diseases as fast as veterinary medicine could cure them. No insurance company in their right mind would have us. As it is, I have this irrational fear that any future dogs we have will be refused insurance based on the medical records of our previous dogs.
But this is what money is for, n'est pas? For about $1500/month, we are keeping our dog alive - healthily, happily, and energetically alive. Will this delay some of our financial plans? Yeah. In 30 years, when I look back at this, am I going to say to myself "jeez, I wish I'd just put the dog down and saved that money for a mortgage down payment"? No, I most assuredly will not.
Just the same, I advise all new owners to take out insurance the instant puppy comes home. We're extraordinarily lucky that we are in a position to pay for this. If this had happened a year ago, I really don't know what we'd have done. Imagine having to euthanize a beloved family member only because you didn't have the money to save her?
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RIP My Golden Angel
11 years ago
3 comments:
I don't regret it either, and I didn't have insurance either. Those 6 months were worth every penny!
I was about to have a stroke when I read your figures, but then I realized that you are in Canada. Not sure of the exchange rate, but I'm pretty sure that $1US is more than $1 Canadian, so my numbers are probably very similar.
As far as insurance, I did some calculations and decided that saving the premium money every month starting with the day my new kids arrived would come out better in the long run. Opinions on this vary greatly though, so I should probably do more research!
While I hate insurance companies with a passion, I recently acquired pet insurance for my giant cats.
Hey, my word verification is "presquiz." Awesome.
@ Emily - yup, I think $6000 CAD is roughly $4500 USD. Also, don't forget I've factored in all the supportive care, not just the chemo itself. We have to get extensive bloodwork done every week because of Jenna's history of autoimmune problems, so our bills are probably higher than normal chemo bills.
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