Women We’ve Helped – Fleur

Grant Recipient: Fleur

I am struggling now to pay the monthly bills

Diagnosis: Stage II Breast Cancer

Treatment: Surgery

Grant used for: Rent, utilities, groceries

…First the Mastectomy

Fleur is an 84-year-old widowed mother who was struggling just to get by on her limited Social Security income before breast cancer made her life even more difficult. Due to the size of Fleur’s tumor, she underwent a mastectomy, but that was only the start of her challenges.

…Then the Bills

Fleur was just barely able to make ends meet before her breast cancer diagnosis, and now even co-pays as small as $35 per doctor visit are difficult to pay. Fleur does not have any savings, including retirement savings, and she can only stretch her Social Security payments so far. In fact, when she learned that she was require to cover a $250 co-pay for her surgery, she almost canceled it!

Overdrawn Checking Account

In her grant application, Fleur admitted that she is dreading the thought of getting more bills. Yet, she must continue to go to doctor’s appointments and pay for transportation, because she can no longer drive. Though she lives with three family members, they are all disabled and cannot give her any financial help. In fact, she has even been forced to borrow money from her neighbor just to afford necessary medication. Fleur told us that she must constantly overdraw her checking account just to try and keep up.

We feel great empathy for Fleur’s situation. She deserves great medical care, but on a fixed income it’s easy to feel trapped or overwhelmed by medical expenses. We are happy that, with the support of our donors, we were able to provide Fleur with a grant that helped her cover some of her most pressing bills and basic necessities. We hope that this grant can help Fleur continue her medical treatments so that she can focus on beating her breast cancer.