Katie Wagner: Fighter
Katie Wagner, a
blonde haired, blue-eyed 15-year-old sophomore from Phoenix, Arizona, was worried
about her Spanish 2 project and her driver’s ed class; she never worried about
the word cancer or step therapy. Katie was always described as caring,
hilarious, and sassy. After a shocking diagnosis of stage 4 Rhabdomyosarcoma
she was additionally described as faithful, tenacious, and courageous. Katie’s
world was quickly turned upside down. She no longer worried about her Spanish
project and never got her license. Instead, Katie fought daily for her life and
for those around her. Katie battled for almost 2 years. Her chemotherapy,
nicknamed “the Red Devil,” literally burned her from the inside out, but she
never let any burn or infection stop her. Towards the end of Katie’s life, the insurance company
stopped paying for Neulasta, one of her shots that cost $4000. She didn't get the last shot that
should have helped her bone marrow to properly produce and aid her immune
system in fighting the cancer and other infections. The insurance company
denied Katie the best opportunity to continue to fight her cancer. This is the
problem with step therapy. The decision to take this drug away was based on the
dollar sign and not on Katie’s chances to fight. With this decision forced on
Katie, she no longer worried about her chemotherapy treatments; but rather when
her body was going to fail her. Katie passed away her senior year of high
school on September 17th, 2017, but she never let cancer beat her or
her faith.
Comments
Post a Comment