On Being Poor and Having Cancer

"Something was very wrong. Marie Cajuste couldn't ignore it any more.

"She had noticed a hard lump in her left breast about a year before, but kept the discovery to herself. She literally could not afford to be sick.

"Cajuste sometimes worked back-to-back shifts, stretching from 3 p.m. until 7 a.m., and still barely covered her bills. Her focus was on keeping her three grown children, who had weathered their own disappointments, and two grandchildren under one roof. Illness was not an option.

"But instead of going away on its own, as she hoped, the mass grew. . . . And so at last, on a summer morning before work, she forced herself to board a city bus bound for the Boston Medical Center emergency department.

"There, the doctor who examined her was alarmed. She told Cajuste, who had no health insurance, to return the next morning so staff could enroll her in the Medicaid program and perform an emergency mammogram. . . ."

A recent Boston Globe Magazine article profiled Ms. Cajuste, her illness, and its related treatment, and it examined the issue of of those who had no health insurance or health insurance that did not cover catastrophic expenses.

To access the complete Boston Globe Magazine report, please visit:

The Boston Globe: A double diagnosis - cancer while poor (29 DEC 18)