Names of the Dead

My 50 y.o. fiance, Lily Buckus did not have insurance when she was diagnosed with bone cancer 4 years ago. She was a widow with 3 children, one of whom is a cancer survivor. Lily was self-employed and could not afford health insurance for herself and had depleted funds helping her son beat cancer. Before her diagnosis, Lily was having pain, but was told by doctors she had kidney stones. Because she had no insurance, she was never given thorough examinations. Finally the pain was so severe we sought other opinions. It was a few days before Christmas, a holiday Lily adored when the news came that she had incurable bone cancer. Being a real fighter, she was determined to beat this and we sought the best doctors and advice. With no insurance it seemed the help we got was meager at best. After a couple months we were able to obtain some insurance through her late husband who would have just turned 65. This covered 33% of the bills and suddenly the care we got increased dramatically, I assume because we now had some coverage. Ironically, with the increase in tests and procedures from cancer, kidney and heart specialists, things only got worse for Lily. It seemed she had become a guinea pig and actually suffered a heart attack in the middle of a procedure that went wrong. She woke up from anethesia screaming. 5 months from diagnosis she died. The bills kept rolling in and totaled over 500k. The home she owned outright was taken by the hospital covering the 300k that insurance wouldn't cover. Her children now have no parents and no legacy left to them. We wish someone had been more honest with us and told us of a hospice option. Lily could have been spared alot of pain and retained all of her dignity. Of course if our health care system was not based on profit, so much pain could be avoided and we could treat each other as human beings.