June 14, 2012 – In 2004, I was 35 and living my life to the fullest. I was blessed with 3 kids (all under 3) and an unbelievable wife (forever 28). My career was headed down an exciting path that took me from lawyer to serial entrepreneur. And the future was only brighter as I continued to find myself more and more by learning how to truly trust my instincts. I was just hitting my stride.  

Then I was diagnosed with thymic cancer. It’s cliché, I know, but in that one second I was immediately and overwhelmingly lost. What I had known before was no longer relevant. What I had believed before was no longer of consequence. Where I saw myself going was no longer a guiding principle.

My new normal was daily confusion and struggle. Yes, the struggle absolutely centered around my dealing with my surgical, chemotherapy and radiation treatments. No surprise, it wasn’t a fun time. 

But the surprise was the confusion in dealing with my situation. From the insurance company that couldn’t find my diagnosis in their drop-down list, to the physician who fraudulently billed me $3,000 for an initial consultation, to the dozens of doctors I saw who were all prescribing conflicting medications, to the hundreds of other healthscare stories that we can all shake our heads at because we have heard them before. 

To experience the healthcare system firsthand was almost as difficult as dealing with my illness – and that makes no sense. 

As I started to get better, I knew what I needed to do. Back in 2005, together with my friend and partner Dr. Nancy Snyderman, we began discussing what would become CarePlanners. We wanted to create a business to help the millions of caregivers and patients who deal with the healthcare system every day. 

Taking care of yourself and your loved ones is really tough – there isn’t any reason to try to do it all yourself. So with that premise in mind, we founded CarePlanners a year ago and are now ready to share it with the world.

I’ve gone from lost to founder, and I hope to share a lot more with you through this blog. Feel free to reach me at alan@careplanners.com at any time.

Be well,
Alan