the cost!!!

It has been confirmed. Herceptin , well, my herceptin treatment, is going to cost half a million rand.
It appears as if my medical aid will pay 80% of it but it still means I will pay R4000 and sometimes R8000 a month. I have to have 17 treatments every three weeks.
Also have to go on hormone treatment which has side-effects eg weight gain. Did not ask about herceptin side effects other than the heart. Need to ask about that.
Wish it could all be over.
Plus will be seeing The Lymph Lady for goodness knows how long.
The Tango Man just said "wow, wow, wow" repeatedly when I told him my arm was swelling. "Why do you keep saying 'wow'?" I asked.
He said it was because it seldom happens so soon. Usually years later.
Oh well. The full monthly cost of herceptin is more than I earn per month.
I asked The Tango Man what people do if they don't have the money. He said he does not know. That is not his concern and I guess it's not. He asked me if I had been in touch with my medical aid about it. I said no. Damn him. I explained I was waiting for today to find out more. How and why do they expect you to just know everything by osmosis? I had heard from the counsellor at the centre it was R20 000 a treatment but didn't really believe it.
The radiation oncologist said my swelling will hopefully go down in a few months. Said in the scheme of things, it was nothing.
Think this post is all over the show... guess it's how I am. Anyway, at work and need to buckle down and do something - as in WORK!