Cancer costs the average patient nearly $33,000 in their lifetime

Steven Hodges: The cost of cancer care

[Steven Hodges is standing, arms crossed in front of a car.] 
 
[Steven appears on screen and the camera moves to a close up of his face as he speaks.] 
 
Words on screen: Steven Hodges. Cancer Advocate 
 
Steven: Hi, my name is Steve. I'm a stage 4 head and neck cancer survivor slash thriver. 
 
[The camera moves back, and Steven is sitting in a chair. He is wearing a burgundy shirt, a yellow daffodil pin and behind him is a yellow wall with daffodil flowers on it and “cancer.ca” is written in the top left corner.] 
 
Steven: I broke my arm. 
 
[An x-ray of Steven’s arm appears on screen showing a broken bone.  The word “supine” is written on the x-ray. 
 
Steven: We wondered why my arm wasn't healing and that went on and on and on 
[Steven is sitting and speaking.] 
 
Steven: I kept going back for repeated appointments and of course, because of the pain of the broken arm, I was on painkillers. Any other illness I may have had was masked by the painkillers. That's when I noticed a protruding bump 
 
[Steven points to the right side of his neck.] 
 
Steven: which later ended up becoming a 3.6 centimeter tumor in in my lymph node. I don't think I had any understanding of what the financial ramifications would be. 
 
[The view changes to a close up of Steven’s profile as he is driving and then returns to the shot of him sitting and speaking.] 
 
Steven: I had to deplete certain accounts that I had. I had retirement accounts, I had RSPs, I had TFSA accounts. 
 
[Steven is standing in front of a car near a large hospital building.  He is wearing a yellow lanyard with the Canadian Cancer Society logo on it.] 
 
Steven: All of that progress was gone because I had to think of my immediate survival. 

[Steven is seated and speaking.] 
 
Steven: Ultimately, it led to me putting an equity take out second mortgage on my home 
 
[A photo of Steven and his young son appears. They are sitting in the back seat of his car. 
 
Steven: to make sure that I had enough funds available to pay the bills, to buy groceries, to provide for my family. 
 
[Steven is seated and speaking.] 
 
Steven: My reason and rationale for wanting to get better was in front of me. My wife and son were my inspiration for wanting to get better. 
 
[A photo of Steven and his son appears, they are both smiling.] 
 
Steven: I'm so fortunate and so grateful that I did come out the other side. And so, if I can give a little bit of that feeling of gratitude back to others, just like I felt when the Wheels of Hope drivers would show up at my door and I knew, 
 
[The view changes to a yellow card sitting on a car dashboard.  It reads: “volunteer driver.  Please do not ticket or tow.”   The Canadian Cancer Society logo and the words “Wheels of Hope” also appear. 
 
[Steven is seated and speaking.] 
 
Steven: I don't have to find a way to get down to my treatments. I don't have to rely on my friends who had their own lives, their own busy lives, they had their own issues they were going through. 
 
[A close up of Steven driving showing his yellow lanyard that says: “It takes a society” and a Canadian Cancer Society logo.] 
 
[Steven is driving. The camera is behind Steven and shows the back of his head.] 
 
Steven: For me, being a Wheels of Hope driver is about connecting with others. 
 
[A close up of a badge with Steven’s photo and name at the end of Steven’s lanyard appears. The view returns to Steven’s profile while driving.] 
 
Steven: To truly let them know that they're not alone in that process. 
 
Words on screen: Get support at cancer.ca/costofcancer 
 
[The Canadian Cancer Society logo appears with the words “It takes a society” underneath.]