Family sells belongings to pay for bills during cancer fight
VANCOUVER, Wash. – Josh Charles is trying to sell anything he can to pay for his wife’s medical bills.
“This Spring, my wife was diagnosed with cancer, stage three,” said Charles.
Charles said he’s raised about $5,000 through donations and selling his things in garage sales and online, but he estimates their bills will cost more than $200,000.
“I was hooked up to chemotherapy for six weeks straight,” said Wanda Charles.
Josh had to quit his job to take care of his wife as she fights colon cancer. He sold his work truck and his tools so he could stay home.
“We just got approved for basic insurance through Washington State, so we’re hoping that will help with hospital and treatment bills,” said Josh Charles. “But we don’t know yet what will be covered and what won’t.”
Their friends set up a website where people can donate, and gave them some of their own belongings for Josh and Wanda to sell.
Wanda said she hopes to be done with chemotherapy by April. As she continues her fight, Wanda hopes her 9-year-old daughter can still have a Christmas to remember.
“I don’t care how Christmas goes for me as long as my daughter has Christmas,” said Wanda. “That’s all I care about.”
I got some unexpected dividends on some of my stocks. Now I know what I am going to do with it.
what the hell they need a little help, not the BS I see here, if you can help, then please do so if not shut your pie hole, Cancer is tough it kicks you back side, when you have walked in their foot steps, you'll know what I mean, Just help them.
It's sad to me in the fact that colon cancer is almost always curable if detected early enough. Know your body and know your family history. If you have any symptoms that are not normal to you, research them and insist your doctor give you answers. An educated mind is a powerful thing.Â
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As far as wanting her daughter to have a good Christmas, well you don't have the money for that. Now is the perfect time to teach her what is really important...and it's not made in China.
@leapfrogger There's more to Christmas than money...well, except for someone like you, perhaps. Compassion, sympathy, love, giving to those who are less fortunate, simply for the blessing of doing so...that is what Christmas is all about. You should educate yourself on compassion because an educated mind without it is as worthless as ignorance. Shame on you.
Although admirable, I still fail to understand why it was that he felt the need to quit his job to stay home and take care of his wife? Most that I've known to have had serious illness, the LAST thing the spouse did was to quit their job because that is the income they depended on to help keep them afloat. Why didn't he just use FMLA to take a year off or something? Unfortunately, we don't know the full story and here's hoping for the best for the family.
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And no, my wife did NOT quit her job while I was being treated.
 @GeauxOSU It's possible that Josh's job kept him out on the road for long stretches at a time, and he preferred to stay close(er) to home during his wife's illness to help care for her and their child.
 @GeauxOSU It sounds like he was self employed and FMLA doesn't cover that...
 @Freckled_Girl Yes, you're right. My follow-up to my first post stated that I was not aware that he was self-employed until a posting from their Pastor.
OK, just now saw Pastor Dan Laabs comment regarding his vocation as an RV repair person. Best of luck to the family. Perhaps another RV company would be willing to take him on as needed to help the family.
It's always convenient to blame scapegoats for the ills of our country.
Hitler did that in Germany with the Jews, and the people just followed along.
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I can't help but notice these 'illegals" that are referred to
are people with brown skin.
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Are you whiners putting as much effort in rooting out other illegals
in the US, like Canadians, Germans, British, Australians??
Probably not. They most often have lily white skin.
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You all should aim your vitriol at the politicians and corporate scum
lining their pockets with YOUR hard earned dollars.
THEY are the problem.
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Bless Josh and his wife.
 @Mipsfer This crap about red, yellow, black or white is nothing more than racist propaganda used to divide and separate.Â
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We ALL have brown skin to some degree...some just happen to have a darker shade of brown than others, some lighter.
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The only true difference between people that matters is the content of their character.
We have known Josh for a couple of years. Josh owned Accurate Mobile R.V Repair. We hired  him a couple of times to work our R.V  Josh and Wanda are Chistians. They had their daughter enrolled in a Christian school. It's heart breaking that Josh had to sell his business, He's an excellent and fair repairman. They wouldn't buy junk to fill their garage to make a few dollars. Like many other Americans, they need some help.It's time this country takes care of our own instead of illegals. May the Lord be with them during this difficult time. Pastor Dan Laabs, Jessica, and Dani Rose.
 @Pastor Dan Laabs Wow!  Really?  First you out the family as Christians.  So, because I'm a law abiding, tax paying, volunteer and charitable donar agnostic/atheist, I shouldn't get the same respect you're asking of this family?  I was going to overlook that series of comments until you said:
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"It's time this country takes care of our own instead of illegals."
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Not only would I think that attitude isn't very Christian of you, I'm actually appalled. Â It was my understanding that quite a few churches provide quality missionary services to all corners of the world regardless of immigration status.
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Its people like you who have blanketed, bigoted statements that make me proud to NOT be a Christian. Â I would like to think that if a God exists, s/he would like to see fair and equal treatment to all of the citizens of this world. Â I had hoped this humanitarian point of view would be shared by all Americans but I've been proven wrong.
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Because we live in a global world, the actions taken here DO affect actions elsewhere. Â With attitudes like yours, its no wonder the US is hated in certain parts of the world. Â If the people could see the compassion you (and others like you) wish upon the Charles family also given to them, I'm fairly certain our image in the world would change for the better.
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Until then, I wish no ill will on anyone -- just the karma they deserve.
@CTWU @Pastor Dan Laabs Why am I not suprised with such a attitude coming from a "man of God"?
 @CTWU  @Pastor Dan Laabs Well, it's not necessarily coming from a religious point of view.  Our country, like every other is based upon something called a budget. Yes, it's nice to be humanitarian towards others in other parts of the world. But when your tax dollars are being sent out to take care of others in or from another country, it kind of defeats the purpose of having a one. There have been people who have died in this country, because programs that should have been citizen-based, went towards illegal aliens- regardless of what nationality they may be, based on the appearance of goodwill instead.  This attitude should not be religion/race based, but for the mere fact that we need to prioritize our funds so that we can take care of our citizens first, because it HAS been weakening our economy.  This taking care of everyone from a global perspective you speak of, is pretty much what new world order means, and it takes socialism to an international level. Do get your facts straight before you begin putting your judgement on others.  (As well as your beliefs. Karma is based on asian religious beliefs- not atheism.)Â
 @My2Cents Actually, I have been in the situation almost the same as the couple described here -- three times (once with pediatric cancer and the other with my mother's bacterial spinal meningitis and again with her terminal small cell carcinoma). Â
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I am also currently on disability and doctors can't figure out what's wrong with me.
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So I do know what I'm talking about in relation to MY life. Â I've depleted my life savings, live in house that is in serious need of repair (but the repairs keep getting put off to take care of the other people around me and for my basic needs -- I'd love to have a maid and even a person able to help with domestic responsibilities part time to free my husband up to be able to actually be 100% committed to his employer and to help with physical therapy).
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I DO know what it feels like to be physically, emotionally, financially, and spiritually exhausted and to not know where the next handout will come from to help lift me out of my hole. Â I know how difficult it is to accept a "gift" from Make-a-Wish because it means the child in my life is very likely to die. Â I know what it is like to support my family members having to deal with daily life and death decisions. Â I know what it's like to wonder if allowing my comatose mother to not have food or water is the correct decision.
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And I know that I never want to see anyone in the position I've been in. Â Ever. Â Regardless of where they are from or why they have a need. Â I know what its like to not add my name to the waiting list of an insurance pool even though I qualify so others MAY have the opportunity to, hopefully, have a better outcome than I have.
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I know what its like to think about ending my life (or have family members who have also thought this way) because my life is worth more to my family dead than alive from a financial point of view. Â I know what its like to give up my place in line for someone I feel is more deserving of the need I might receive.
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The day I stop giving is the day I die.
 @CTWU What does that response have anything to do with the original topic?  ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!  The first person spoke about taking care of our own citizens FIRST before spreading out tax dollars to other individuals who came here ILLEGALLY, and who have somehow made it to be first in line.  And here you go, ranting about karma, food labels, and 6 Christmas trees in every house. Hopefully you and yours will never encounter a tragic event happen in your lifetimes, where you are left to tend to an ailing relative- because a day nurse isn't covered by insurance, and then wonder how the heck an illegal immigrant- who could be from Mars for all I care, is able to get full dental care, while your wife sits ill, and on a waiting list in an insurance pool.
 @CTWU What possible difference does it make that the people of another country who make things to sell overseas (surprise...just like WE do!) have a different faith or belief system than you do?
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And "facts" are nothing more than things YOU accept to be right. That doesn't necessarily mean they are true.
 @My2Cents  @Pastor Dan Laabs Never said Karma was atheist.  I know the difference.
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And, yes, I do accept the financial limits we all face (obviously). Â I don't think any one country should be financial supporter of the world nor should they be the ideology. Â But we never know which child we might save who later goes on to make a cure for cancer (and, yes, we never know which one might go on to create a genocide but, hopefully, through education and support of basic life needs.
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At the same time, do we really need to have six christmas trees in every house filled to the brim with ornaments made in countries who don't even support the beliefs of the citizens of this country? Â $24.99 will get you a crappy made Santa statue at a box store. Â The person responsible for making it (I often wonder what goes through their head when they see this stuff!) makes, maybe, $0.02 for that thing you don't really need. Â The box store takes their cut, as does the middle man, and the manufacturer.
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Wouldn't that $24.99 be better spent on some one instead of some thing? Â That factory fire, as another example. Â I would be more than willing to pay at least a few cents more for the shirt I'm wearing to be GUARANTEED the workers are being paid a living wage, that the factory is safe and run in the best way possible for the employees and employers, that the product is made with the least impact to the environment, and on and on.
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Instead of labeling just on food, I want labeling on anything I chose to buy so I can be the best possible educated consumer I can be. Â Then I would be better off making the decision of who gets my hard-earned money and understand why their prices might be just a tad higher.
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In turn, I wouldn't buy more cheap crap that I don't really need that fills up the garage requiring me to get at least one storage unit (and another for the holiday crap) and be able to donate more to people like the Charles family and to others here and around the world (thus not requiring taxpayer dollars -- except that I don't pay sales tax because I never made the purchase -- and, yes, I live in Washington).
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FWIW, I have my facts straight.
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@Caspertoo @CTWU @Pastor Dan Laabs Evangelical fundamentalist Christianity didn't start until the 20th century.Being that the founding fathers were deists,there version of Christianity is a different than the modern right winger brand.They purposely drafted the Constitutuion to not favor any demonination.Also the concept of God can have a wide variety of beliefs which don't include Christianity.
 @CTWU  @Caspertoo Caspertoo said that the country was "founded by christians for anyone to believe in what they want" not that "the country was founded on Christian beliefs".
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Slight difference there...and a good point by Caspertoo.
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The Founding Fathers understood that with respect to religious belief, free agency (or the ability of the individual to decide for themselves) was MORE IMPORTANT than their own personal beliefs, as it should be.
 @Caspertoo  @Pastor Dan Laabs Actually, the country was NOT founded on Christian beliefs, it was founded on the ability to HAVE a belief.  Just as free speech, you can believe in whatever "religion" you wish to believe in.  In fact, several of the founding fathers who helped create the framework for this country were Deist (in many ways, similar to agnostics) including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, James Madison, and George Washington.  There were others that were also at least open to the Deist ideology.
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http://atheists.org/content/faith-founding-fathers
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And I never said I was an actual atheist but I refuse to believe that a "God" I would want to believe in would allow innocent children to be abused and killed (especially in horrific ways).
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So, as I understand it, my proper, Christian comments (aside from the snarky immigration comment made by the original poster) should have been:
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"God doesn't give us more than we can handle" along with the ever-popular "the Lord will provide"? Â Ok. Â My work here is done. Â
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Clearly, according to the "christians" the Charles family doesn't need my well-wishes or financial support. Â
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Too bad! Â They're going to get it.
 @CTWU  @Pastor Dan Laabs Well said!
Yet another example of our disgusting money driven medical care system.
Profiting from other's misfortune is criminal as far as I'm concerned.
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This country is going downhill in a big hurry.
Yeah, it terrible that people want MONEY for DOING THEIR JOBS. How nasty and viiscious they are. Oh, that means even you are, that is supposing you WORK for a living.....
 @disgustedman That's not what he was implying, and you know it.
There is a big difference between making a living wage and making obscene amounts of money while others suffer.
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 @HarryJuku Most likely his job or occupation did not provide health insurance as a benefit. And as such, he would have had to purchase it on his own in the open market.  Purchasing health insurance is out of the realm of possibility for most working wage folks, as typical health insurance premiums costs $750 per person per month.Â
 @Kennyboy  @HarryJuku Well, it appears the Pastor indicated that Mr. Charles owned his own company.  If they didn't have health insurance available through his wife's employer, or if she wasn't employed previous to her diagnosis, then he'd have to be self-insured.
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My sister and her family of four (2 kids) are self-insured and its costing them $2,400 a month for basic coverage -- not including the actual doctor visits, tests, medications, and on and on. Â So, yeah, the $750 per person you're quoting seems about right.
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So, just on assumption, alone, if you're self-employed and looking at coverage for yourself right now, had a mortgage of $1,200 a month (with that old rule of needing that cost to be 33% or less of your income), that means you now need to earn at least $3,600 just for the mortgage and "typical" living expenses.
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$3,600 + $2,400 (in medical insurance for a family of 4) = $6,000 after tax dollars a month
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Yeah, so that means you'd need to be bringing in at least $6,000 a month in after-tax dollars to just basically "get by" if you're self-insured. Â That doesn't even account for very many extra frills like car payments or fun trips or "useless junk" in the garage...
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Yikes!
 @CTWU  @HarryJuku Plus the fact that very often people who do want to buy their own insurance, can't, because of some type of 'pre-existing condition'.  Thankfully that problem is eliminated with Obamacare in 2014, but it still doesn't address the sheer un-affordable cost of the premiums.
In America, it's much more important that corporate executives get paid and keep their jobs than for people to have or receive proper health care.
In America it's much more important to lay off people before the end of the year to make the numbers look good for many companies so that the top brass can get their end-of-year bonuses.
In America, it's much more important to develop a drug that will keep people just sick enough to be dependent on it and make money than to develop a cure.
In America, it's much more important to have that 60" flat panel television than to save money for a rainy day.
In America, it's much more important to watch sports than to keep abreast of social or political news.
In America, it's much more important to have things than to have freedom from debt.
In America, it's much more important to watch television, play computer games or listen to music than to spend time together with your family.
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We are the most materially blessed nation on earth, yet we still have children in our country who go to bed hungry, people who die from diseases that are curable, and people who are unable to read and write.
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Payback is coming, and it ain't gonna be pretty...and all the money in the world won't make a lick of difference.
 @Mikey Actually Mikey, It's best to cover your own ass and not worry about the Ceo.. The CFO the owner of the company of any other loser .. Watch your own ass and things will work out..
 @dougrpdx That part of the anatomy is a lot easier to cover for the haves than the have-nots. :-P
 @Mikey  @dougrpdx Secret there is to be a 'have' and take care of your own...don't you think...??
ya know... I want to rethink this.. So this guys spouse has cancer, he quits his trade, decides to never work again.. What the hell.. Sorry man, you have to support your family no matter what..
 @dougrpdx Supporting his family, at least for right now, appears to be taking care of the household responsibilities and his sick wife -- running her to numerous doctor and treatment appointments, cleaning up after her if she's too ill to make it to the toilet even once, helping her walk from point a to point b and rehabing herself to get better and stronger after each treatment and/or surgery.
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So, yeah, if you have a spouse or a child with cancer (or any other debilitating illness), as much as you need and/or want to be at work, not only are you not giving your employer 100% (and, depending on the type of job you do this decision, alone, could cost you or your coworker their life if you made a slight, temporary error in judgement), but you're stressed, overwhelmed at home with life and responsibilities and on and on.
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Even if he were to go to work, he'd then have to find a way to obtain some type of cleaning service, domestic help, and medical caregiving for his wife. Â That is NOT inexpensive.
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Until and unless you ever find yourself in that situation, I suggest you hold your judgement.
I'm so sorry for this family.. Things like this should never happen.. Again, so sorry..
I wish that all people could receive the necessary medical care that they need, without having to worry about the cost. No person should have to worry about how they will pay for their medical care. It just isn't humane.
@pdxd .......so, what's the answer? What's the solution?
 @Rob C 503  @pdxd live in Canada, France, Germany, Britain, Cuba, etc.
 @Rob C 503  @whirledworld we're talking about medical needs/care, Rob.
Hmmm...Go live in Canada?? The country which sends Candians to the USA for MRIs. CT's and a few other treatments due to long waiting times??
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Many wealthy from the other countries come HERE for the best top notch treatment...THe poor only get what their Gov decides they should have.
@whirledworld ......"Cuba"?? "France". .? Ya may wanna check your economic and politcal compass.
How about, what can we do to make sure these folks have a good Christmas? What do they need? The mom, the dad, the child? Can we ease their pain, their suffering, for a few moments?Â
@Reerae .......I'm in ! I'll help. What do we do? And how?
Only in America do people have to have garage sales to pay for critical medical care. We should be ashamed.
Or be desperate for food.
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See KATU news story: Salvation Army reports steep drop in Portland donations
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Evidently people think their Mini-Coopers, Car2Go's, and cheap chinese junk
are more important than having a civilized society.
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 @Mipsfer We don't have a civilized society, merely the semblance of one.
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Turn off the power for a year, make food scarce, and we will all see just how uncivilized our society actually is.
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We are all just three or less meals from anarchy.
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@HarryJuku Perhaps they, like many other Americans, couldn't afford health insurance and their employers didn't offer it. And you make a lot of assumptions regarding the type of junk they filled their garage with. It is so easy to be critical so as to be able to ignore the problem.Â
 @MissLissaJ   @HarryJuku if you had paid any attention to the video you would've seen he did not buy the "junk in the garage". it says in the video friends gave him THEIR BELONGINGS to sell AFTER he began selling all of his own.
 @pswaterspirit  @MissLissaJ  @peckishpete  @HarryJuku No offense, many of us HAVE been there. I have been caretaker to several members of my family through illnesses like cancer, dementia, and the like. I would never trade the time I had with them for a moment, and I don't for one moment regret the sacrifices I made, and the repercussions now, years later, of some of those choices. However, the one thing I DIDN'T DO was throw my family to the winds of fate by making a choice to sever my ties to income generating avenues, BECAUSE that was the best way to negatively affect the people I was caring for. State Health Care sucks. Every little thing has to be cleared and many procedures aren't covered, and it requires a lengthy appeals process to even get them to consider amending policy. Many of the anti-cancer drugs his wife will have to take for follow up are thousands upon thousands of dollars a month, and the WHP won't cover many of them.
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What I DO object to is what Harry said--this man is selling many nice things. He and his family chose to buy belongings, maybe have a nice car(s) and the works instead of paying for health insurance and now the time has come to pay the piper. He didn't quit his job to stay home with his wife, he quit his job because no insurance company would take her with probably years of missing health history (no preventative health screens, etc) and a condition like advanced colon cancer. He most likely made too much to qualify for state assistance, so now he is unemployed and the tax payers get to not only foot the millions of dollars it will cost to foot her cancer treatment, they will also get to foot feeding, housing, and other basic necessities for this family to survive.
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And they're worried about Christmas for their daughter? It's time for people to re-learn (and teach their children) that the fancy trappings of life (smart phones, laptops, high speed internet, cable, designer clothes, etc) are NOT rights, they are privileges--and that they are unnecessary when compared to things like housing, food, shelter, clothing and yes, health insurance. I hope Wanda is able to recover fully, and hope the family learns to appreciate the non material aspect of life--like love, family, and good health.
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@MissLissaJ @peckishpete @HarryJuku So I'll explain it to you from someone who has been there. When you have a spouse with cancer it is a full time job. Many times they can no longer do thing for themselves, they need moral support, they are weak and tired all the time they  need you to be there. It is absoultely exhausting on every level for a caregiver.
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My husband died 9 years ago and I can tell you I would not trade a minute of those last months I had to spend with him. Even with insurance I was left homeless by medical bills.
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Until you have a clue about what a situation takes you should not be judging others.If there is one thing wrong with this country its that people pass judgemnet on things they know nothing about like they are god on high. Frankly,I find that preachy I know better garbage disgusting
 @peckishpete  @HarryJuku I think Harry is getting at that people would rather buy possessions than actually take care of business. It doesn't matter if it's health insurance or other kinds of bills, people would rather buy things than pay for their obligations, because being responsible isn't "fun" or "cool." I also know I'll get blasted for this but I honestly don't feel that sorry for the family. Mr. Charles is foolish to quit work. His wife is quite capable of getting a doctor's note and getting a tri-met lift pass for 25.00 a month as an HC designation. The lift will come to her door, drop her off at her appointment, and so on. I'm also guessing she's on OHP or has some other form of insurance--that WILL cover a certain amount of hours weekly or monthly if she needs in home care. I personally fail to see how voluntarily giving up all income and depending on SSI/ Disability/foodstamps to survive is going to make their situation any better.
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While I agree that insurance companies are allowed way too many pre-existing conditions loopholes for exclusion, it is NOT on average 750.00 a month to get an individual plan. People need to actually be informed before their run their mouths. Most people can get insurance for between 150-250 a month, less if they go to some of the hospital systems around Oregon and contract through one of their smaller family insurance plans. No, not everything is covered--but maternity is by far and away the most oft-excluded benefit on these plans. I am guessing Mr. Charles chose NOT to pay for insurance, for whatever reason, until it was too late.
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As for the comment about their daughter not getting a christmas, I've got a suggestion. How about rather focusing on the materialistic trappings of the holidays, her parents teach her about the real reason for celebrating and maybe they should all be grateful for the fact mom is still alive and getting treatment. I just don't get the possessions obsessed facet of our society.
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@peckishpete .....so lets help these people. What do you want to do? You? We can get people to sign on. Want to organize something?
@Rob C 503 I already did. I went to the website and gave some money. Now its your turn.Â
agreed. only in america. we should be very ashamed.