When people talk about the cost of cancer, the conversation usually revolves around money – hospital bills, medications, insurance, and the out-of-pocket expenses that pile up fast. But there’s another cost that doesn’t make the headlines: time.
Cancer doesn’t just take a toll on your body and your bank account. It takes over your schedule, your calendar, and sometimes your whole life. And for patients and their families, the time spent in treatment often translates directly into financial loss.
My Story, But Not Just Mine
I was diagnosed with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (aka throat cancer) in March of 2022. In April, I underwent a total laryngectomy, followed by radiation, chemotherapy, and weeks of physical therapy.
You can read more of my story here.
When I look back, what stands out isn’t just the medical procedures. It’s the sheer number of hours spent getting them.
- Radiation: Six weeks, five days a week. An hour’s drive to the hospital, a 10–15 minute treatment, and an hour’s drive home. Thirty treatments total. That’s more than 67 hours just in radiation-related travel and treatment.
- Chemotherapy: Once a week during that same six weeks. Each session lasted about 8 hours. That’s another 48 hours.
- Physical Therapy: Ten weeks, two sessions a week. Each session lasted an hour, plus travel time. That’s another 40 hours.
By the end of that stretch, I had spent the equivalent of four full work weeks simply in treatment or getting to and from appointments. And that doesn’t include waiting rooms, follow-ups, imaging, lab work, or the countless delays that come with cancer care.
Time Is Money
Now, I was retired when I began this journey, as was my wife, who took on the caregiver role and drove me to many of those appointments. We were fortunate – we had the time to give.
But what if we hadn’t been retired?
Imagine both of us working hourly jobs at $25 an hour. Between my treatments and her caregiving time, we could have lost at least $8,000 in wages in just a few months. For families living paycheck to paycheck, that kind of financial hit is devastating.
And the reality is: many cancer patients and caregivers are in that exact situation. Some lose jobs because their employer can’t accommodate the schedule. Others burn through sick days, vacation time, or family leave. Caregivers often cut back their own hours – or quit altogether – to make sure their loved one gets to appointments safely.
The Overlooked Burden
This “time burden” of cancer is rarely talked about. Yet it affects nearly every patient and family:
- Missed work hours leading to lost wages.
- Missed family moments – school plays, birthdays, vacations – because treatment takes priority.
- Missed opportunities to rest, heal, or simply live life, because every spare hour seems consumed by the logistics of care.
When people say cancer changes everything, this is part of what they mean.
Why We Need to Talk About It
Highlighting the time burden matters because awareness drives change. If healthcare systems, employers, and policymakers recognized time as a real cost of cancer, we could see more support for:
- Transportation assistance for patients traveling long distances.
- Telehealth appointments for follow-ups that don’t require an in-person visit.
- Flexible work policies that allow patients and caregivers to balance jobs with treatment schedules.
Cancer Takes More Than Health
Cancer is not just a medical condition – it’s a life condition. It demands not only your strength, but also your hours, your days, your weeks. And in a society where time often equals money, that cost can be crushing.
By bringing the time burden into the conversation, we can push for a more complete understanding of what cancer truly costs – and advocate for solutions that ease the load on patients and caregivers alike.
Because sometimes, the hardest truth is this: we just don’t have time for cancer.
How You Can Help
At Lary’s Speakeasy, we work to support laryngectomees and their families – not just with medical information, but with understanding, advocacy, and community.
If you’ve experienced the time burden of cancer, we encourage you to share your story. The more voices that speak out, the harder it is to ignore this hidden cost. Please leave a comment below.
also if you’re not a member already, please consider joining our Facebook group, with over 5,000 members we are the largest laryngectomy Facebook group in the world
Together, we can make sure no one faces cancer alone – and that the true cost of this disease is finally recognized.
My story began in 2015 when I was having problems with my voice, not a good thing for an auctioneer. I went to a local doctor who for 2 years misdiagnosed me. When I went for a second opinion in another state in 2017 they got it right, throat cancer. I went through radiation treatment which at the time I thought cured the cancer but left me with very little voice and very little income, after all who wants to hire an auctioneer without a voice.
Fast forward to 2023 and the cancer came back (I’m not sure it was ever completely gone), and that’s when the doctor said he had to remove my voice box and vocal cords. This left me with no voice, no income and lots of new medical equipment and supplies that I needed.
My wife went from wife to caretaker, again our income was affected by her loss of income taking care of me.
I’m going to stop now, you get the picture. I don’t want to sound like I’m winning. The point is, life has changed and not for the better, but we will overcome this.
My journey began with loss of voice , about 75% and a sore throat , that was the end of Oct. 2014 , after seeing my PCP and being advised not to talk for 6 weeks , haha , I was a sales person and a buyer for heating equipment , I finally got to see an ENT , haha he said that I strained my vocal cords , had me stick my tongue out and shined his light down , haha , don’t talk for another 6 weeks , still no change and again stick out your tongue , what a joke looking back , so I pushed to see a specialist . We went to LGH , our local hospital with a cancer center and the Oncologist said it’s a slow growing cancer and he was 95% sure he could destroy it with Radiation , it gave me an incredible burn on the outside and he said it was worse on the inside of my neck , he said it will be better in 3 months never scoped me and he didn’t want to do any follow-up visits , haha, so after about a year and seeing the local ENT haha, I pushed back again and he said go see the Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania , met with the Department head , he was great scoped me and was not impressed, and brought in his #1 Dr Weinstein and he scoped me again and they went and discussed to about 5 minutes and came back and said they would like to try a super partial Laryngectomee , and the sooner the better , well we were not sold after the local Drs did nothing , so we went to the Cancer treatment center of America in Atlanta GA. It was also like a birthday get away for me , the Dr there said he wouldn’t do a partial , because he has tried and it didn’t work , but when I said about Dr Weinstein , he said if he is to be my surgeon that is who he would let give it a try , So about a week later the 26th of April in 2016 I was in the operating room for about 12 hours , and when Weinstein talked with my wife he was really hopeful, he said everything looked good and they got all the cancer out , so the next 2 years were very long and tiresome, as I never ?learned how to swallow anything , I would sleep with a bottle by me so I could spit when needed , then Dr. Weinstein asked if I wanted to have the full Laryngectomee for quality of life , as I had been on a PEG feeding tube and I was taking about an hour every time I would do a feeding , so almost 2 years to the day I was back in the surgery department again , and woke back up to some of the best nurses on the planet . I had the Full Lary and everyone was happy with everything and at the 1 month check up he gave the all clear to start eating soft foods , started slow and thought everything was going well until one night I started getting sick and it came out my stoma and mouth , back at LGH who at this time entered in an agreement with Penn Medicine , and they had no idea, so we left them and drove to Philadelphia , it’s now July 3rd and no way to see the best doctors around , but they had all my info and knew how to take care of me , I had a fistula and on the 5th I was sent to the operating Department and they did a pectoral muscle flap pull up, and for the 3rd time I woke up to some of the best nurses anywhere and they were not happy that I was back again and making my wife sleep in a chair beside me , haha , she never complained to much , she was more afraid that being over an hour away I would not be able to relate to the nurses what I needed , it always made her feel better knowing that she was there and they were very glad that I had someone to talk for me . So finally in Oct of 2018 I was given the all clear to start eating again , and a week before Thanksgiving , I had the stomach tube pulled out and was eating real food , and the kids were all happy that I was cooking Thanksgiving dinner again . My boss was incredible kept me on the payroll for over 18 months to make sure I had health insurance , and then early in 2019 he gave me the full payment for my EL , and it came on my birthday 55 , and my wife had put together a surprise party , which I almost walked back out of , I have made peace with the fact I cannot work and the lack of smell , but sometimes I really do miss both , and that is a shortened version of my adventure. Sorry for the ramble but it was all typed on my tablet 6×9 screen , thanks Mike