Maggie’s finally starting to feel a little bit better. She had more smiles and more chit-chat this morning than we’ve had since Friday. Five days down. However, watching her slow down as she got ready for work this morning made it obvious that she still feels pretty rough. But she didn’t grind to a halt like the other mornings. And we only had one cough/gag/spit (compared to many the other days.) She’ll be back early again today for lots of bed and TV time but it’s still an improvement. We’ll take it. Unfortunately, today she starts her Xeloda again. That by itself has quite a nasty kick.
It’s been a long five days. I think we’ve left the house twice, other than Maggie’s brief trips to work. Maggie, her mom and sister went for a massage and facial on Saturday but that’s about it. The rest of the time has been spent in the bathtub, laying in bed or on the couch in front of the TV. I suspect that while we are finally coming out of the CPT-11 body-shock, when we add in the Xeloda haze, the rest of the week will look a lot like this past weekend. We’re looking forward to next Weds when we’ll start our Drug Free week.
Meanwhile, insurance is playing games with us yet again. Humana has changed the way they treat Xeloda from the way it was when we signed up waaaaay back in November 2006. Now, instead of the typical co-pay amounts of say $15 each time we filled the prescription, Humana will now only pay a mere 30% of the cost, leaving the other 70% to us. That’s about $265 every two weeks. Ouch. Fortunately, we have our secret weapon, Becky at VersaClaim, to help us sort this out. Maybe she can make sense of it and, better yet, get it fixed.
I know I’ve mentioned Becky before but it’s worth repeating myself for this. If you or anyone you know has to suffer through a major medical situation, get help managing the bills and insurance. You are outclassed by the insurance company’s know-how and resources and you will eventually lose. Be preemptive and call someone who specializes in patient advocacy and claims assistance. Yes, while we’ve spent some money on hiring Becky, it has been an investment in my sanity (especially at the start of all this!) Better yet, she’s paid for herself in finding and fixing errors (or tricks?) in insurance bills that would have pulled money directly out of our pockets, far more than the money we paid for Becky’s watchful eye. The insurance company is NOT your friend. Get help with this as soon as you can.
Hello
My catastrophic insurance deductable is now an annual expense. A flexible health savings accountant (FHSA) through work at least helps us to pay most of it using nontaxable wages
Until we’ve incurred that deductable a Xeloda purchased at my local pharmacy was costing me $444/cycle which is about 1/3 of the actual price.
A three month supply of Xeloda purchased through the same insurance company’s mail order pharmacy costs $35. That averages out to $3.50/cycle.
Our only billing issues has been with invoices submitted with the wrong procedural codes, the insurance company not paying and me getting a horrific bill. Fixing the problem requires my remedial instruction to the Doctors billing service using the correction explanation provided by my insurance company. It can take me hours on the phone and it all has to get done during the work day. Why they can’t talk directly I don’t know but the bill makes it my problem.
At least I’m learning new things and know my blood pressure medication works.
Hold Fast, Smile often & look into your FHSA and mail order options
Don MacLeod
Cycle = 4000mg/day Two weeks on one week off.
Is insurance the rock or the hard place that we’re caught between?
So glad to hear that Maggie’s feeling better –
Much love, happy thoughts, many hugs, and lots and lots of prayers every day!
You know I’m now a big fan of acupuncture now that’s it’s helped 2 of my dogs. Here’s a story I saw on ABC news about how it’s helping cancer patients with the nasty side effects of chemo. Over 3/4 of the patients said they had improvements in nausea, night sweats, etc.
http://abcnews.go.com/search?searchtext=acupuncture%20cancer&type=
Massage also has shown to be effective. It will increase your overall immunity (increases T cell counts and WBCs), along with loosening your muscles and increase production of endorphins. So book one now! And enjoy the hell out of it!
Hope you get to feeling better this week. We are always praying for you both.
I would be more than happy to come over and tidy up anytime, would offer to cook but that would probably be cruel. Love you guys, hang in there
Words of wisdom and/or experience I do not have. But hang in there and know you are loved by many and an inspiration to us all.
YAY!!! So glad to hear Maggie is feeling a bit better! Continued thoughts & prayers!!!