“We did not want to go into problems with our house and credit,” says Lisa Salo, a kindergarten teacher from Suwanee, Georgia. But Salo’s chemotherapy treatments for breast cancer were already costing her $4,000, and she knew she would owe another $4,000 in January.

When Salo and her husband could not pay the first bill right away, the collection agencies started calling. Salo and her husband had never been late with any bills before her illness, but all the money they earn goes toward their mortgage and their two children. They had no idea how to come up with the money, and they were embarrassed to ask for help.

A parent of one of Salo’s former students, Hahnee Kang Oh, noticed something was wrong and set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for Salo’s treatment. In the past three weeks, 113 people have donated, raising $6,855. The outpouring of support has been overwhelming for Salo. She considers herself one of the “lucky ones” with a good insurance policy that does not require a co-pay for each treatment. She felt embarrassed that her family needed help paying her medical bills, but knew she could not turn the money down.

Medications in the US are some of the most expensive in the world. Nowhere is that more clear than in the high cost of life-saving cancer treatments. New cancer treatments are priced on average at $120,000 per year, and the overall price of cancer medication has grown 100-fold when adjusted for inflation since 1965.

While concerned physicians have tried to push back on drug manufacturers through op-eds and a Change.org petition calling for reforms that would lead to lower cancer medication prices, patients unable to afford the treatment costs have had to turn to crowdfunding sites to help pay for care.

Lisa Salo and her husband had never been late with any bills before her illness, but all the money they earn goes toward their mortgage and their two children. Photograph: Courtesy of Lisa Salo