COBRA costs more than my rent, what did you do? (update)

The COBRA quote for my family is $450 a month and I do not know how to afford it. I worked as a software tester before this. My old employer will not help with the premium. How did you decide?

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 13 months ago, and it settled down once I kept a simple log of every call and form.