I AM a senior citizen who was diagnosed with stage four ALK-positive lung cancer in December 2013. The disease, which is due to an abnormality in my genetic makeup, requires direct therapy treatment that is extremely expensive (ranging from RM10,000 to RM30,000 per month), and I have to bear the cost myself.
The first three years of treatment cost me almost RM550,000. Thankfully, I am now on a subsidised programme at University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). But even with this programme, I still face severe financial constraints because my savings are being depleted.