Intro + Neoadjuvant or Adjuvant Chemo?

Hi @veenaga - thank you for your message and advice - I actually did forget about this important part of the process, so appreciate this.

My wife is a Clinical Nurse who, up to her diagnosis, worked in a local public hospital, so has been fortunate to be very well supported, both financially and emotionally by her colleagues. She has, as a part of her superannuation, access to income protection - something that (as you very correctly suggest) we started the application for immediately. The biggest hurdle for us in getting the income protection payments approved was the fact that her superannuation's default was a 90 day waiting period instead of a 30 day one, so we had to just suck that up a bit - that said, she is a very dedicated worker and had so much sick leave banked up that she's been able to take a few months off on leave until her income protection kicks in, so we've not had much of a gap.

I think the main takeaways for us in applying for and receiving income protection are:

1. Check your waiting period today, even if you're not thinking of accessing income protection. That extra 30 or 60 days can make a HUGE difference financially.
   
   
2. Apply as soon as you can.
   
   
3. Read the application thoroughly and make sure you have all the documentation and information required before you apply. Speak to your employer and medical team and let them know that you're going to be sending in forms for them to complete ASAP - you don't want to be waiting for weeks because your HR department are sitting on the form. Follow up with them regularly to make sure they're getting it done.
   
   
4. Take any help you can get - we were assigned a personal case manager and her role is to not only help us through this phase, but also to work with us to get my wife back into work in a safe and healthy way. We've paid fair premiums and so we're going to lean on them and take advantage of every service or assistance they can offer.

Couldn't agree more on the Public System as well - we're fortunate to be living near enough to commute to the Royal  Brisbane Women's Hospital and have had all appointments there. We've met and been taken care of by such dedicated and amazing people who we have grown to know quite well - it also helps to have all the team under the same roof and every facility we need is in the same place which saves on time and data sharing hiccups. In terms of costs, we've not paid a cent for our treatment so far - in fact the only things we've paid for are a few pharmacy items and a portacath insertion which we paid for privately due to massive waiting times in the Public System (well worth it, and there's still a large Medicare rebate so still relatively affordable considering the benefits it brings). The only real ripoff - which I think I've already mentioned - is the cost of car parks and the fact that our appointment schedule means we don't qualify for any concessions. That said, we've found a smaller car park only 5 minutes away which is literally half the price, so even that's been manageable.

Thank you so much for your message, that's great advice - I hope you're travelling well and that you have an amazing day!

George