Ana Isabel He is from Badajoz and is 27 years old. She was diagnosed with cervical cancer in his hometown and soon afterward was informed that I had to go to Madrid. “I only knew that they couldn’t treat me there, there were no means,” explains the young woman who, since then “and until further notice,” has spent every other week in the capital.
TO Pedro They found a brain tumor. After the operation she had to undergo a tproton therapy treatment to eliminate the remains that had been left and that they could only give him in Madrid. For this 44-year-old Sevillian and his family, the news of having to move to the capital for more than a month was “a shock, crazy.”
Neither Ana Isabel nor Pedro had lived outside and much less in a big city. At most they had been on vacation or just passing through. In their cases, knowing their diagnosis It changed lives twice: they had to cope with your illness and take on the complexities of receive treatment away from their homes.
To face the need for accommodation, but also of support for patients and families During treatment in another city, the residence for oncology patients of the Spanish Association against Cancer in Madrid. A space in which patients “come and go” depending on the duration and times of their process and in which they live with other families and people who are in the same situation.
Home
At zero cost to patients, this ‘house’ offers “comprehensive care in which the patient is in the middle”, point Marta Escudero, responsible for the oncological residency of the Spanish Association against Cancer in Madrid. He tells EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA that the intention is that “any patient can receive her treatment in a city other than their own & rdquor; and points out that priority is given to people with fewer resources.
With individual -and very bright- rooms, a large kitchen, an indoor dining room, gym and various common areas, patients and their companions can stay for the duration of the treatment and interact with other patients. There they play bingo, ludo, organize theme days, chat with each other, go on excursions and cook together and They spend their days sharing with others their experiences, their fears, and even their desires.
The person in charge of the residence details that displaced cancer patients They leave behind “family and friends” and that when they arrive “they find themselves alone, without knowing the city, without knowing how to get around on public transportation or get to the hospital.” “They are lost, scared and do not dare to ask,” she emphasizes.
That is why among them, They support each other, listen to each other, have fun and make their stay away from home more enjoyable, accompanied by that “big family” that they have formed, Pedro and his wife refer, Maria Jose, who accompanies you in the interview. Both have enormous emotion and gratitude to everyone they have met who have done “a lot of pineapple and many links” during their stay.
Ana Isabel highlights that “you have no choice but to be like a family within this mass of bad news and bad vibes. You have a good time and try to make everything as light as possible and above all “Be optimistic and move forward, supporting each other.” The young woman from Extremadura also highlights the numerous leisure alternatives that the association offers: “I spend a whole week here, it’s good for me to enjoy a little and have a good time with others.”
Life in another city
The psychosocial consequences for the patients they are brutal since both they and their companions are forced to abandon their daily and work activities. All of them They have left their lives ‘on pause’.
Pedro has worked in the fields “all his life”, but now he has sick leave for more than a year and he doesn’t know when he will be able to join again.
María José comments that she has had to stop teaching classes in the yoga group that he carried in his town to be able to accompany him. At first, María José maintains that she was not able to see anything “clearly.” She clarifies that there were “many mixed feelings because you don’t want them to tell you that you have to come and receive treatment,” all of this, he reflects, is the result of “fear of the unknown and the new”.
“It has been an injection of positivity and therapy for both of us”
In fact, he remembers that his initial plan was to take an apartment in the capital, but finally They decided to “open themselves to this possibility”. He confesses that his concern was finding “people with low energy who would drag us down.” Nothing could be further from the truth.
Pedro assures that it has been “a injection of positivity” and He adds that “it has been a therapy for both”. Through tears he recognizes that thanks to the support of his wife he is where he is today. “Thanks to you who have the strength and the desire to live,” María José responds with affection.
Ana Isabel was studying and, luckily, she has been able to continue. She assures that since she learned of the diagnosis “I have suffered more for my family than for myself” and points out that “it is not so much the problem itself but how the rest take it.”
The young woman from Extremadura indicates that one of the things that cost her the most at the beginning was the feeling of feeling like a burden. “When you are of a certain age, “Being a burden on other people is horrible, it is not a pleasant feeling,” apostille.
financial aid
lloss of income due to stopping work, In the case of both patients and companions, it represents a significant economic cost that they often cannot assume on their own.
In the case of Ana Isabel there are three brothers. Her mother is a housewife and her father “does whatever works for her.” In this context, she considers that if this possibility of accommodation did not exist “she could not have come at any time, “My finances were not up to this.”
The young woman affirms that “there is hardly an economy that is enough to spend a week in Madrid if the residence is not there. If you are not from Madrid, where do you stay? Do you spend more than 1,000 euros a week to stay here? “What economy can withstand this two weeks a month?”
María José says that “despite having residency are many expenses because you have to eat every day” and indicates that the standard of living Compared to his people, he is “much taller.” Pedro adds that while they are displaced they have “an extra expense but you still pay the mortgage, the electricity, the water…”. The couple has had to dip into savings on some occasions and they have been “lucky”; to have help from family members.
From the Spanish Association Against Cancer they emphasize “the need to guarantee comprehensive and continuous care that covers the needs of patients when the disease is diagnosed.
“There is hardly an economy that is able to spend a week in Madrid if the residence is not there”
They emphasize that “it is necessary reduce indirect costs What it means for patients to receive a treatment that is not available in their province as well as, equalize aid throughout Spain”. And the reimbursement of the travel, subsistence and accommodation expensesdepends on what each autonomous community determines in which cases it is covered, what amounts and concepts, whether advance payments are contemplated and the application procedure and other procedures.
Visibility
Knowing the resources that exist and having access to them is one of the priorities for patients and associations today. Marta Escudero states, in this sense, that the AECC has volunteer coordinators in almost all hospitals in Madrid and one extensive network in different territories who acts as a link with the association, depending on the needs of the patients.
Ana Isabel’s father learned about the existence of the residence thanks to this volunteer network. They “they had no idea” and they say that “it was lucky that there was a volunteer at the Badajoz hospital that day.”
Despite the presence of volunteers, María José regrets that there was “a lot of misinformation” and he admits that if they had not had “the initiative to investigate, we would not have found out that this possibility existed.”
Back home
Ana Isabel says that she will still have to continue going to her sessions in Madrid. After some time, and with a different perspective, she reveals that she thought that “it was going to be much worse having to come and go, but the truth is that I’m fine”. “It is much easier to digest when things are going well, when they put you certain measures in which you can access recovery, such as residency”, he emphasizes.
“You learn from all the people and experiences, you integrate them into yourself, you contribute your own; “It has been enriching”
After a month and a half, Pedro and María José return home. They are happy although they have “mixed feelings.” “Is a bittersweet feeling because I’m looking forward to leaving but I feel sorry because he left a lot of people behind,” says Pedro.
“You learn from all people and experiences, You integrate them into yourself, you contribute yours; It has been enriching. We return better people than we came and we take away many experiences,” concludes María José.