My appointment with the worker at the social security office paid off.  I was entitled to start collecting disability payments based on the fact that my cancer relapsed.  This was good news. My disability payments were not much but at least it was something.  I did receive back pay from the first date on which I had applied and was turned down.  This did help getting the mile high medical bill pile down some.  I also received Medicare to help with doctors’ visits.  This financial stress that had been part of my life due to cancer was not as much of a burden as it had been.  Before I had gotten cancer we only had one vehicle.  My husband had a truck which was a stick shift I could not drive.  With some of the back pay I received, I was able to buy a car I found a white Chevy Malibu that had been a bank repo.  It was nice to have something fairly new and safe for me and my children could drive around in.  We were no longer a one vehicle family and I did not have to rely on my husband to drive me around.