Funding Alan’s Cyberknife Treatment
Funding Alan’s Cyberknife treatment was obviously an important factor for us to consider when we started down the Cyberknife path. Our paramount concern was for Alan to get better and that was all we could focus on. Faced with the news that you may only have 2-3 years left to live, your thoughts tend to be ‘we’ll pay whatever it costs’ but obviously you have to be realistic about whether you are able to fund the treatment. We believe that even if the Cyberknife cannot cure you of your cancer but it can extend your lifespan with good quality, the treatment has to be worth every penny you spend on it. We certainly didn’t have a spare £35,000 in the bank but thankfully for both of us; our parents are still around, so we knew we would ‘find’ the money one way or another.
Alan’s surgeon in the UK mentioned before we went to America that we would probably be eligible for NHS funding but we knew that time was of the essence and we would look into that once we had returned from Washington. Thankfully, due to a very understanding bank manager, within 2 days of approaching our bank, I had £35,000 in my account.
Alan, being a police officer for over 20 years, within a few days of his colleagues knowing about his pending Cyberknife treatment, we had had many reassurances that the money would be raised one way or another. We could go to America and not have to worry about the ‘debt’ while we were there.
Taking such a large sum of money to America was an important factor we needed to consider. The hospital in Georgetown informed us that we could not pay with a credit card and they did not have the facility for us to do a bank-to-bank transfer. We decided the safest way to take such a large amount of money was to take it all in US dollar traveller’s cheques. One point to consider when taking a large amount of money into the USA is that US Customs require notification of anyone taking more than $10,000 into the country. This is quite a simple procedure and just requires you to stop at the Customs desk on arrival into the USA and fill in a declaration form about how much money you are bringing in and what it is to pay for.
If you are not travelling to the US but travelling to another country for your Cyberknife treatment, it is important to check with the country’s Embassy website for their requirements in to taking money into the country.