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Most of us plan for the hospital bill.
But what happens if you cannot work for months… or even a year?
Daniel was chasing FIRE. Then cancer forced him to stop working… but not in the way he had planned.
At 34, Daniel found a lump after a 5km run. Nine days later, he was diagnosed with stage 2B Hodgkin lymphoma.
Six months of chemotherapy followed: 12 sessions, 13kg lost and a treatment bill of over $300,000.
His hospitalisation plan covered the treatment. His employer continued paying him for six months, while an early Critical Illness payout provided additional support.
The bigger lesson? Preparing for illness is not only about paying the hospital. It is also about buying yourself enough time to recover.
Prudential Singapore’s Health Gap Years poll found that 67% of respondents expected severe-stage critical illness recovery to take more than a year. Yet only 29% believed they had enough savings to get through it.
Daniel and medical oncologist Dr Hsieh Wen-Son join us to discuss the money, treatment and the difficult reality of life after a cancer diagnosis.
If you had to stop working tomorrow, how long could your finances last?
Brought to you in partnership with Prudential Singapore.
What We Discuss:
- 05:51 What does a “Health Gap Year” mean to you?
- 08:23 What happened after your diagnosis?
- 11:39 How is lymphoma usually discovered, and what should happen next?
- 13:00 How does wanting children affect cancer treatment?
- 15:12 Is there a standard number of chemotherapy sessions?
- 18:58 How long did the treatment and recovery process take?
- 21:00 When did life start feeling normal again?
- 25:42 How did cancer affect your sense of identity?
- 29:07 How did you rebuild your life after treatment?
- 31:21 How much did the whole cancer journey cost?
- 36:24 How did you finance your treatment?
- 38:01 Why did you buy early critical illness coverage?
- 41:47 Do a patient’s finances affect which treatment doctors recommend?
- 44:56 What should people know about less intensive cancer treatments?
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