Cancer Patient Care Fund

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In 2005, the Cape Breton Cancer Centre identified that financial struggle was weighing on many patients undergoing treatment. Cancer Centre Social Worker, Tom MacNeil has been working with the Cape Breton Regional Hospital Foundation over the last 15 years to ensure that patients get support dealing with unexpected financial costs as a result of their diagnosis.

The Cancer Patient Care Fund is 100% donor funded and would not exist without the generosity and support of our community. Often when someone in our community is diagnosed with cancer, their ability to work can be compromised and the fund helps to ease the financial burden during their sickest days. Last year alone,  $475,415 was given back to cancer patients in need and more than $2,500,000 since 2005. 

How can you help?
By making a gift to the Cancer Patient Care Fund, you are ensuring families focus on what is most important — their health. Instead of focusing on bills and finances, cancer patients are able to focus on their wellness.
Your gift will ensure that the 1,950+ cancer patients in Cape Breton will have access to this fund and can be alleviated from their financial situation. Your gift will enable the cancer patients a sense of relief.

Who is using the fund?
More than 150 cancer patients walk through the doors of the Cape Breton Cancer Centre every day, that’s over 54,700 every year. Many come low-income families and others cannot work during their treatment. Patients who are unable to afford the most basic necessities rely on community support. Today, 45-60 patients access this fund every single month.

Alternative Therapies: Fifteen to twenty people regularly attend weekly Tai chi; eight or so attend weekly yoga; about eight attend weekly music therapy; about six attend weekly drama classes and six attend the bi-weekly writing classes. The yearly art program has ten participants. Our monthly Living with Cancer support group has twelve to twenty regular attenders. The monthly Eskasoni support group has on average five participants. The yearly Cancer Transitions program usually has eight to ten participants.

Who's using the fund?

The following are just a few samples of ways your donations have helped cancer patients in need. 

• Paying for over $ 3000 in dental work for patient receiving CPP disability pension (of between $ 800 -$900 a month) and has no other source of income. Dental problems resulted from radiation treatments.
• Will be covering an expensive prescription of $ 1500 (or more) a month indefinitely for a patient with metastatic breast cancer. Was not able to get government funding for this drug.
• Twenty-five hundred dollars provided to single woman (who lost her husband to cancer last year) over the  last two months. She is awaiting monies from LTD and/or CPP. Until these pensions are approved she has no income. She did not want to go to community services.
• Will be paying for lymphatic massages for patient who cannot receive through public system (that can only see acute cases).
• Covering for a lot of lodging and travel for people going to Halifax for PET Scans and for people getting treatments that can’t be done here.
• Covered an overdue light bill in the amount of $ 847.86 and $ 1500.00 towards mortgage payment for a nurse who is on LTD. Her husband is working two jobs trying to make ends meet.