Monday, December 28, 2009
Cancer threw man's life into a downward spiral
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At age 44, the last thing Doug Leigh was expecting was a diagnosis of throat cancer. He had never been sick before.
"I never smoked a day in my life," he said, and added that he hardly ever drank. His doctors told him the disease was likely caused by a lifetime of exposure to lead, asbestos and other cancer-causing substances he encountered while working on old houses.
"I've been painting since I was 12," he said, and until recently, he owned a successful painting and remodeling business for nine years.
"They didn't give me much chance," Leigh said about his doctors, and so he gave away most of his belongings.
But the cancer diagnosis in late 2005 was just the beginning of a four-year medical ordeal.
Leigh underwent surgery, 47 radiation treatments and three rounds of chemotherapy for the cancer, which had spread from his tonsils to his spine. He spent nearly two years in the hospital and has been cancer-free for the past two, he said.
During his treatment, his doctors found that he had heart problems, he said. For a while, they were controlled with medication, but by October, he needed surgery. During the 12-hour operation at the University of Virginia Medical Center -- the only hospital that could treat a case as complicated as his -- something went wrong. After 12 hours of observation, he was sent home, but the next day, he said, he was in such pain that he could barely crawl to the door to let the rescue squad in. He had developed an infection in his abdomen, he said, and had to spend a week in the intensive care unit and undergo an emergency colostomy.
When Leigh became ill, he was able to go on Social Security disability right away. He later became eligible for Medicaid and Medicare, but not before he spent all of his savings -- $40,000 to $50,000 -- on the drugs he needed.
"It didn't take no time to go through it," he said. At $110 a dose, the nausea medications were "outrageously expensive."
The money came from the proceeds from selling his home. He'd planned to buy or build a new one just before he got sick.
Most of Leigh's hospital bills were paid through a combination of charity care and Medicare. For a while, Medicaid paid for his prescriptions, but just before his heart surgery, he said he was informed that his $960 disability check was $40 over the eligibility limit. He knew he would not be able to come up with the $284 for the six injections of blood thinner he would need after the operation. The Bradley Free Clinic had helped him in the past, he said, and workers there referred him to Roanoke Area Ministries. There, he was given a grant from the Emergency Financial Assistance Program, which is supported by The Roanoke Times' Good Neighbors Fund.
"They've all been super," he said. "They don't make you feel degraded. When I get well, I'll come down and volunteer."
Although his illnesses have been very difficult, Leigh has tried to keep his spirits up. As bad as his condition has been, he said, he saw people in worse shape while he was recovering from his cancer treatments.
"You feel a little bit stupid feeling sorry for yourself," he said.
Because RAM can help only once a year, Leigh has to look for other sources to pay for his medications. Sometimes he asks his doctors to put him on a cheaper drug, other times, he simply doesn't fill the prescription.
"You can't keep asking people for money. That just makes it worse," he said.
Leigh said his son, his ex-girlfriend and his friends have helped him get through the hard times.
"I've been real lucky with friends," he said.
As to why he's defied his doctors' predictions, Leigh said: "Somebody must have something in mind for me. I can't take too much more. But at least I'm still waking up on the right side of the dirt."
