To me it sounds like you never had a long-term plan for the treatment or your own future. You jumped in, blew your savings, and now you're stuck.
It's too late for "could-have, should-have", but if you somehow manage to procure more money, at least consider alternatives such as slower treatment schedules or flying your mother to a country where such treatments are cheaper (India comes to mind as a potential option)[0]. Also, consider a second opinion to understand whether continued treatments will make a fundamental difference.
>I’m also terrified of driving in the snow (PTSD). I Uber everywhere
I've heard of PTSD from rape or war, but this is totally new to me. What happened?
>I’m yet to get a paycheck after almost 2 months of work because my co-founder hit a snag with some investors from a previous gig. I’m OK with this because in the long-run things will be golden.
That sounds very strange to me. If my family was in need, I personally would jump on a first job with a stable paycheck that I could get so I could (slowly but surely) provide money. This seems like poor timing to bet on a lottery ticket (which, as HN reminds us, most startups are).
[0] - inb4/none of these are an option because reasons
> To me it sounds like you never had a long-term plan for the treatment or your own future. You jumped in, blew your savings, and now you're stuck.
I'm 22, young; my future is good. For what it's worth, the way I see it is that everyone I would have graduated college with (I only did a semester), is now in massive amounts of debt. I'm just starting from near-zero (-$6k).
> I've heard of PTSD from rape or war, but this is totally new to me. What happened?
Snowstorm, lost traction. Ended up under a semi and was dragged under. The supporting beams of the trailer (which were perpendicular to my windshield) came through it and nearly put my face off.
> That sounds very strange to me. If my family was in need, I personally would jump on a first job with a stable paycheck that I could get so I could (slowly but surely) provide money. This seems like poor timing to bet on a lottery ticket (which, as HN reminds us, most startups are).
It is, and you're absolutely right. I wasn't expecting to not get a check, and I wasn't expecting to <completely> clear out my savings.
>To me it sounds like you never had a long-term plan for the treatment or your own future. You jumped in, blew your savings, and now you're stuck.
You think that the OP is to blame for not having a long-term plan for a scenario in which one's very close family member is diagnosed with a previously unknown disease and $150k is not enough to take care of that?
You think this is an instance of poor planning on the OP's fault?
Cancer kills quickly, but not "tomorrow" quickly. This gives an opportunity to consider the big picture and how you'll navigate this challenge. The OP himself writes that his savings lasted for 4+ months. I was surprised that, in this timeframe, zero thought appears to have been given to the question: "What happens when my money runs out?".
The final outcome may have been the same (asking for donations online), but you'd be starting out early instead of with your back against the wall. Same as with startup funding: if you look for funding only when you're out of runway, you'll have a next-to-impossible time of securing it (or securing it on good terms).
Okay! Scenario time! Same thing happens to you, or your family. A family member has cancer. It's going to cost $50k and a few months. What do you do?
Oh wait. Instead of $50k, it's more like $75k. Actually, make that $125k. But it's going to be $125k and no more.
Just kidding. In fact, because I'm playing the role of Life + Healthcare in this scenario, I'm going to lob a little bit more at you. In fact, it's going to be $1M. (Think this is implausible? Sorry, it's not. [1]) What are you going to do? Also, I may up that number a little bit more, just for kicks. What are your plans?
Your post may be more convincing if you outlined your actual point instead of relying on hypothetical scenarios. My only guess at what you're saying is: "Healthcare costs can be unpredictable." That's a fair assumption, but it fails to negate my previous point in any way.
What 22 year old plans for their parent's cancer? Or really has a solid idea of exactly what their future has in store?
He was doing what people in their early 20s are supposed to do: take risks. He was probably involved in startups before his mom got sick.
Let's not beat him up for doing what many of us are doing right now, then getting caught in an unpredictable and terrible situation and trying to do what he thought was right at the time under a lot of stress and emotion.
You can have chronic PTSD from many things. For example, people who were abandoned, beaten and physically abused as children. That's just one example, there are many others. You don't have to be a war vet who saw active combat or a woman who was raped to suffer from PTSD.
It's too late for "could-have, should-have", but if you somehow manage to procure more money, at least consider alternatives such as slower treatment schedules or flying your mother to a country where such treatments are cheaper (India comes to mind as a potential option)[0]. Also, consider a second opinion to understand whether continued treatments will make a fundamental difference.
>I’m also terrified of driving in the snow (PTSD). I Uber everywhere
I've heard of PTSD from rape or war, but this is totally new to me. What happened?
>I’m yet to get a paycheck after almost 2 months of work because my co-founder hit a snag with some investors from a previous gig. I’m OK with this because in the long-run things will be golden.
That sounds very strange to me. If my family was in need, I personally would jump on a first job with a stable paycheck that I could get so I could (slowly but surely) provide money. This seems like poor timing to bet on a lottery ticket (which, as HN reminds us, most startups are).
[0] - inb4/none of these are an option because reasons