Lacy's Life

Lacy is a successful bakery owner, she loves to bake cakes and pastries. She is a married to an electrician named Hank, she is a fun and loving mother of a 8 year old boy Jake, and a 15 year old girl Chrystal. For the past few weeks she has been complaining about blurred vision and has been having erratic mood swings and headaches, should she take an Advil and wait for these continuous symptoms to pass, or go to the doctor to see if she is becoming ill? [[Take Advil]] [[Go to the doctor]]

She felt temporary relief but decided her job and family were more important than her headaches. Lacy is also under-insured and cannot afford too many unneccesary medical bills. Should she tell her husband about her continual issues or continue on with her life as though it isn't a big deal? [[Talk to Hank]] [[Continue with life]] [[Lacy (intro)]]

The nurse takes her vitals and waits for the doctor to be done with his current patient. The doctor enters and introduces himself as Dr. Craig. Lacy explains her symptoms and he takes a look at her eyes. He looks over her vitals and assures her that everything seems fine and that there are no issues. He suggests that she should consider seeing a counselor to get her emotions on track and to help deal with her stress. [[Go to counseling]] [[Continue with life]] [[Lacy (intro)]]

Lacy meets with Dr. Phil, the counselor to vent about her stressful life. She can tell that the appointments have been helping her organize her life, but the headaches seem to be getting worse. She begins to lash out on her husband for minor inconveniences. Phil suggests that Lacy and Hank should try couples counseling. Hank is being uncooperative because he thinks Lacy is the problem, not their relationship. [[Take time apart]] [[Continue with life]] [[Lacy (intro)]]

Since Lacy has started chemo she is now experiencing the effects of it. She is exhausted throughout most of the day and is having trouble running a bakery on her own. They think of a multitude of creative avenues as to how to make more money to get things to go the smoothest for themselves and the children. Should Hank agree to work part time at the bakery and part time at his electrician job to ease Lacy of her stress or should he continue to work full time as an electrician? [[Both jobs]] [[Electrician]] [[Lacy (intro)]]

Lacy decides she will take the risk of invasive surgery in hopes of removing the tumor so her family doesn't have to see her go through the challenging and deteriorating stages of chemo. The surgery goes well but cancer cells are still found and have spread to the parietal lobe of the brain. Lacy and her family decide to continue chemo. After consulting with Dr Gupta. he suggests chemo 3 times a week to combat the growth of the tumorous cells within her brain. Lacy's chemo treatments are completely exhausting and by the end of the day she has no energy to want to spend any time with her family. The chemo makes her hair fall out and she is extremely sick. Her family is running out of money. Lacy wishes she can just stop having cancer, but knows her family needs her strong right now to be what she has always been, the families rock. Should Lacy continue to fight the good fight, give up the fight because she is very stressed and feeling extremely sick these days, or look into different avenues so she can afford treatments to prolong her life? [[Go over financial options]] [[Stop treatments]] [[Lacy (intro)]]

Hank is tired of Lacy's irrational and angry behaviors. Lacy doesn't want this negative energy around her children. She thinks it's best for her to take some time apart and continue counseling so she can get better for her family. Lacy decides to stay with her parents for a while because the issue is not going away, although Lacy isn't too sure as to what the issue really has become anymore. [[Stay with her parents]] [[Lacy (intro)]]

Working both jobs has been extremely tough on Hank and Lacy. Lacy and Hank are still coming up short the more they try to figure out how they will be able to afford a total of $250,000 worth of cancer treatments. Lacy is completely frustrated with this whole process of having to try and figure out how this cancer in her brain is going to treated, and how her family will be able to stay afloat with her new diagnosis. She doesn't feel better from the treatments she's been having, but it has only been 2 months. She is seriously thinking about just giving up because her life is just too stressful at this point trying to keep her family happy, and worrying about what the outcome will be. The doctor had said Lacy has a long road ahead of her, but she didn't think it would be nearly as difficult as it truly is for her right now. Although Lacy feels like life is breaking her, she doesn't know how her family would feel about her stopping treatments. [[Go over financial options]] [[Talk with therapist]] [[Lacy (intro)]]

Hank's pay checks are barely enough to cover the household bills, groceries and school supplies before the kids go back to school. The bakery seems to be more costly than Lacy expected since the main oven broke down. Lacy and Hank start thinking about why they haven't spoke with the bank about a home equity loan yet? Their mutual friend Tracy suggests why don;t they just sell the bakery, Lacy's mother suggests why not dip into their kids college fund, and Lacy's father questions why they're not speaking with a medicaid contact to cover the costs of chemo treatments as well as radiation? Lacy and Hank take their suggestions wholeheartedly, yet opt to speak to a home equity loan representative first to see what kind of dent they can make in this treatment coverage. [[Why don't they just go and talk to the bank about a loan]] [[Lacy (intro)]]

Lacy's parents keep nagging her about her relationship with Hank and what she is doing to her children. Lacy decides to try and work things out withy Hank, she figures that they have been together for 18 years and to just divorce him for minor issues will not have a positive impact on her children. She decides to have her kids over to spend some time together and make their lives feel as normal as possible while she attempts to sort out her marriage with Hank. Lacy is playing with her kids when all of a sudden her eyes roll back, and she starts foaming at the mouth, Chrystal calls 911 and they wait for an ambulance as they watch their mother have a seizure. She is admitted into the hospital and the doctor orders an MRI scan. Lacy and her family must wait up to a week to hear back from the doctors. A few days later, Lacy gets a call from Dr. Sharon. The doctor informs her that they found a tumor located in the frontal lobe of her brain which explains her prolonging symptoms of headaches and blurred vision. She has stage 2 cancer. Lacy and Hank wait to tell the kids and discuss what the best options are since they do not have health insurance. The only two reasonable options that they come up with are to start chemo treatments or to not take any action until they are financially ready. [[Consult with Oncologist]] [[Start chemo treatments]] [[Lacy (intro)]]

Lacy decides to end all treatments and speak with her family about her decision. Her life at the time couldn't foresee her headaches and blackouts as being something other than stress related. Lacy's body has succumbed to cancer. She only has a few months to say goodbye to her family. She knows that she could have done something, but not only is it too late, she cannot afford to have her treatments even to extend her life a couple months. She figures Hank will move on eventually, and her life insurance policy will support her kids until they get through college. Lacy decides to make positive videos to leave for her children to let them know how much she loves them. She tells Jake to continue playing sports and to study to become whatever he wants in life. She tells Chrystal to make good decisions, study hard, and strive to become a better person with each days passing. She tries to let them both know how hard it is to have to leave them to fend for themselves, but she has no other options right now, and the cancer would break them financially. [[End of life]] [[Lacy (intro)]]

Hank believes that despite their insurance coverage, it would be smart for Lacy to go to the doctor. He would rather have his wife be safe than sorry. Hank keeps pestering Lacy to go see their doctor, but she refuses to go and asures him that she is okay, and it really isn't a big deal. [[Continue with life]] [[Go to the doctor]] [[Lacy (intro)]]

Lacy is playing with her kids when all of a sudden her eyes roll back, and she starts foaming at the mouth, Chrystal calls 911 and they wait for an ambulance as they watch their mother have a seizure. She is admitted into the hospital and the doctor orders an MRI scan. Lacy and her family must wait up to a week to hear back from the doctors. Lacy is given anti-seizure medication and is sent home awaiting her lab results. A few days later, Lacy gets a call from Dr. Craig. The doctor informs her that they found a tumor located in the frontal lobe of her brain which explains her prolonging symptoms of headaches and blurred vision. She has stage 2 cancer. Lacy and Hank wait to tell the kids and discuss what the best options are since they have minimal health insurance. The only two reasonable options that they come up with are to start chemo treatments or to not take any action until they are financially ready. [[Consult with Oncologist]] [[Go over financial options]] [[Lacy (intro)]]

In the following months, Lacy's body became very weak and frail, and she began to become extremely forgetful. One day Chrystal came home from school and found her mother sitting on her favorite reclining chair. Her skin was palish purple and she wouldn't respond to Chrystals cries for her mother to wake up. Even though Chrystal knew her mother was gone, Chrystal could not come to terms with her mothers passing. Chrystal must have sat there for what felt like 3 hours holding her mom rocking in her chair with her. Chrystal called Hank and Hank told her to call 911 until he arrives home from work. Everyone knew what was coming, but that does not make it easier when it actually happens. When the EMTs arrive, they check Lacy's pulse and pronounce her dead. This leads her family to begin funeral arrangements. Hank and the kids begin to mourn the loss of their guidance, their most loved family asset, their family's glue, their beloved mother Lacy. Due to the complications of Lacy's life, and her unseen tumors her body was riddled with, she decided that it was best for her to maintain her family's future emotional and financial stability, by letting the cancer take over body. Lacy could't bear to watch her family get destroyed by cancer, she knew that the diagnosis would financially bankrupt them, and her family would get over the emotional needs of her being around. Did Lacy win? While her family is now more financially stable, she won't be around anymore to see her family evolve into the best people they can be. [[Lacy (intro)]]

Lacy and Hank set up an appointment with Bank of America to go over the possibility of taking out a Home Equity loan to help cover the cost of cancer treatments. Ted informs them that they have enough money in their account to insure they can pay off a $75,000 loan. Lacy and Hank know that 75k isn't enough to cover her treatments, and start brainstorming as to what other viable options they have to make more money. Lacy proposes the idea that it would be best for the family, for her to stop treatments and live the rest of her life to the fullest. Hank is adamant that Lacy is not thinking straight and insists on finding other options for them financially. At this point, Lacy is saddened by either having to make or break her family because of something outside her control. She is quite thankful that Hank is sticking by her and attempting to keep a positive outlook on her prognosis. Lacy stays up at night sobbing in silence as to what she did wrong in this world to deserve such a grim diagnosis, and where her kids would be without their mother to guide them. Lacy and Hank decide that having the money is better than taking the money from an outside source. They decide to take money from their kids college fund. [[Why don't they just take money from their kids college fund?]] [[Lacy (intro)]]

Hank and Lacy decide to go and speak with a medicaid contact about how they can get insured with better coverage. The contact says that it will take 6 months to kick in and it will also only cover about 10% of the total cost of her treatments. She decides to apply because the total amount of her catastrophic cap has already been exhausted, and now they have been paying out of pocket using the money from their home loan. Lacy and Hank have already withdrew a lot of their childrens college fund to afford her treatments, and are now considering selling Lacy's once successful business, her niche in life, and her dream, Lacy's beloved bakery. [[Why don't they just sell the bakery?]] [[Lacy (intro)]]

Lacy is faced with an extreme dillema when her medical bills come in. Hank and herself aren't sure as to how they are supposed to afford her cancer treatments to extend her life. They brainstorm as to how they can afford at least an extension on her life. Lacy and Hank think that it may be easiest to see about a home equity loan to afford her treatments, they then both come up with ideas from their mutual friends and family. Their friend Tracy says why don't they just sell the bakery? Lacy's mother says why don't they just use money from their kids college fund? Lacy's father says why don't they just go and speak with a medicaid contact? All options are viable to Lacy and her family, but it still is a cost of roughly $250,000. Lacy is quite overwhelmed by having to take away from her family and use their finances to extend her life. She starts thinking that maybe not doing anything may be the best option. As much as she wants to live to see her children succeed in life, she does not want to put her family through the burdening cost (financially, and physically) of her newly found diagnoses. Lacy and Hank decides to speak with the bank about a loan first. [[Why don't they just go and talk to the bank about a loan]] [[Lacy (intro)]]

Hank and Lacy decide to meet with one of St. Luke's most well known Oncologists to go over their next steps. Dr. Gupta suggests that Lacy begins chemotherapy three times a week and radiation once a week. Dr. Gupta also says that she can undergo a surgery, but it may not stop the spread of the cancer, it will only take out what she has. He then introduces the payment plans that are available to cancer patients. When looking at their insurance coverage, the out of pocket cost is too much for them to maintain (roughly $250,000 for the duration of her treatments). They can't decide whether to start with chemo and radiation once a week in order to lower their medical bills, or discuss financial options with a trusted friend and some relatives. [[Start chemo treatments]] [[Go over financial options]] [[Go through with the surgery]] [[Lacy (intro)]]

Over 6 months go by and Lacy has received somewhat better insurance coverage. A secondary home loan that is being paid off, an exhausted college fund that was meant to further their childrens chance of becoming successful adults, but they are still short on how to afford the now $150,000 full treatment bill. Lacy and Hank still need to ensure Lacy's life doesn't end by way of cancer. She has been attending her treatments regularly and they have been paying off the bills as they come in. Her hair has already fallen out and Lacy has been very sick for the past couple months. Lacy finally decides that today is the day, and she has to let her employees know that she will be selling the bakery because she just isn't there anymore due to her declining health, and Hank and herself do not have enough money to cover her treatments, let alone their family life in general. Lacy and Hank decide that Hank will set up potential buyers of Lacy's bakery, and see how much they can get to try to cover Lacy's treatments. The first potential buyer totally lowballs them by offering 55k. The second was a little higher at 72k, still well below their goal of 150k. the third offering was the best at 80k. They decide to go with the $80,000 offer. Lacy and Hank argue because they had thought that she should be getting a lot more from her bakery, but need more money to cover the rest of Lacy's treatments. Lacy becomes severely depressed and starts thinking about just letting it all go, but she had worked so hard to get to the point that she is at now. So many treatments, so many chemicals running through her veins, and above all, she's not even close to being done. She starts to see stopping her treatments as a completely realistic option, but her life isn't about her anymore. What will her kids think about her giving up and not fighting until she can't fight anymore? Will that teach them that it is ok to buckle under stress? [[Stop treatments]] [[Continue on]] [[Lacy (intro)]]

Lacy and Hank know they have money stashed away that is strictly in use of their children's education expenses, and have vowed not to touch it unless it is absolutely necessary. They have been stashing away close to 7% of their total annual income for at least 10 years. While they do not want to use this fund, they don't really have a choice because Hank had let Lacy know that her life is more important than a cash value. They can save more when Lacy is well again. Unfortunately, The 50k they have stashed away only covers 10% of her treatments, which still leaves them needing more money for the rest of her treatments. They decide to take Lacy's fathers advice and speak with the medicaid contact. [[Why don't they just go and talk to a Medicaid contact]] [[Lacy (intro)]]

After successfully undergone her final chemo treatment, Lacy and Hank are forced to finally sell their home that has had so many memories in it, from when Chrystal and Jake were born, to when she had fulfilled her short dream of owning a bakery. Lacy now knows that her children will at least have a somewhat happy christmas in a couple weeks. Lacy starts to absolutely bawl until her eyes are flooded, because she is alone in an empty house that was once a place filled with absolute joy. She sits alone in her thoughts, Hank is at work, the kids at school. She had just underwent her last treatment as of 3 days ago, and is feeling the last chemical effects burn her taste buds and nauseate her insides. She never asked for this, yet this is what is. Broke, in debt of roughly $50,000 until they receive the new buyers check in their hand, and about to move into a 3 bedroom apartment where the school district is the worst in the county, and her beloved family will be forced reside, temporary, only temporary she reassures herself. She knows this is a lie she keeps telling herself to feel better about the situation. She wonders what her families life would have been like if she had decided to just give up? Was there any other possible outcome where she didn't have to give up everything that their family had worked so hard to build? Lacy continually blames herself, but she also knows that she has a loving family that will stick by her side through the rough. Did Lacy really win? She is alive, but had to give up everything in order to be alive and well. [[Lacy (intro)]]

Lacy and Hank are determined to ride this out, and hold onto their money like precious cargo most times, attempting to skim their bills to save money and to try to afford what needs being paid at that present time, and putting off what bills can wait. She only has a couple treatments left, and her prognosis is good at the present moment. Chrystal and Jake do not have a clue how strong their mother really is, because Lacy and Hank have decided early on to let them know the prognosis, but try not to let them feel the effects of this financially crippling "cancer." Lacy cannot stand to hear that word, and whenever the word is mentioned, she grits her teeth and has to hold back her emotion because she had no choice in the matter. After all their attempts trying to keep their head above water, they are still in debt with their outrageous hospital bills. Lacy and Hank have finally decided that they will need to sell their home. Even though Chrystal and Jake aren't aware of this, they figure that it is the only way to somewhat break even, and who knows, maybe they'll be able to afford a plentiful christmas after Lacy's last treatment in a few months. [[Finally beat it]] [[Lacy (intro)]]

While at her chemo treatments Lacy is having emotional distress while trying to process how to go about dealing with her new disgnosis. She had decided to speak with the hospital therapist about how to process her emotional instability. They had talked about how to approach the idea of stopping treatments, the best way to discuss it with her family and if it was the best option for her. [[Stop treatments]] [[Go over financial options]] [[Lacy (intro)]]