Ramona applied in December, 2019 with no health insurance and no idea where to go for help.
We referred her to apply for financial aid at UC/San Diego & she was approved for coverage for her breast reconstruction. Ramona had her mastectomy/expander surgery in May,2020 and will complete her implant based reconstruction in August,2020.
The cost to AiRS will be minimal if anything and the assistance she was directed to will save Ramona & AiRS $50,000 minimum. She would not have been able to have breast reconstruction without AiRS guidance.
From Ramona:
I would like to express my gratitude to AIRS for giving me hope when I needed it the most. I am a 47-year-old Hispanic single mom residing in the state of California. On May 2019, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. My current employer (Wendy’s) offers medical insurance, but it would cost me almost half of what I currently make per month, therefore I was unable to enroll. I applied for emergency Medi-Cal and was granted, “Restricted Medi-Cal.” This only covers the removal of my breasts, but not reconstruction. I was very pleased to have qualified for my treatment, but as the time passed, I realized that I was having emotional traumas after the removal of my breasts. Somehow, I did not feel like a woman anymore and when people looked at me, I felt that they were just noticing that I no longer had breasts and they felt sorry for me.
At this time, I realized that with my income, I would never be able to pay for a reconstruction surgery, which Medi-Cal did not find essential; therefore, I started looking for resources that would be willing to help me be the women that I once was. After contacting several nonprofit organizations and being rejected endless times, I reached out to AIRS and spoke to Tamara. I felt that I had finally found someone that cared and was willing to listen and offer me services when I needed them the most. I just want to thank you Tamara and your organization for helping people like me who are in desperate need of your services.
