Hi all...
We are home from the hospital. Everything seemed to go well. It was soooo incredibly sad to see everyone up at the clinic. And they were especially sad to see us. We had many different nurses and doctors stopping in the room to ask us "what the hell!?"
We started out in the clinic with Alex getting Vincristine and labs done. After all the doctor visits they sent us down to RTU (Rapid treatment unit) for the lumbar puncture. They decided against the bone marrow biopsy today since the one they will do next week is the one that they really want the reading off of...
Alex did really well for all the treatments today. She is home resting now and will continue this course until next week where we find out what more is to be done. The bone marrow biopsy next week will hold a lot of answers for us. They want to see an abnormal cell decrease by almost all. I think they said the first reading was 80% abnormal cells and they want to see it at 5% at two weeks. SO... she needs some serious ass-kicking drugs in there fighting all the bad cells.
We are also doing an IV anti fungal medication twice a day.... Listen to how stupid this is... Our insurance will not pay for the anti fungal pill (well, they will but at $1300 a month our cost) but they will pay for the drug to be administered by I.V. This is where it's so frustrating that ALL healthcare insurance is is big business. No one really cares about the human element... or even the bottom line... it's just the "rules". Since the IV method is covered under "medical" it is paid... but the pill is covered under "prescription" so those benefits are different. AND they are both through the same company. The pill runs the insurance $2400 a month... the IV costs them $6400... the risk of infection is greater on the IV... the supplies involved are incredible... and the worst part is, is that Alex is hooked up to an IV pole at home for 5 hours a day! It would be different if this were just a 10 day antibiotic regimen but we have been informed that this drug will need to be given for a YEAR AND A HALF! At a cost to the insurance company at $74,800.00 a year! The pill, which Alex would only have to swallow twice a day will cost the same insurance company $30,568.00 a year. HELLO!!! Do these people NOT have an accounting department?
Well, that is my rant for the week :o) Actually, I have tons of things that I think are bullshit this week. Cancer topping the list... BUT, I am grateful for a few things... I could not ask for a better group of people that are here to support me!
I hope everyone has a great week... and I hope we have no complications and you don't hear from me until next Thursday. :o)
We are home from the hospital. Everything seemed to go well. It was soooo incredibly sad to see everyone up at the clinic. And they were especially sad to see us. We had many different nurses and doctors stopping in the room to ask us "what the hell!?"
We started out in the clinic with Alex getting Vincristine and labs done. After all the doctor visits they sent us down to RTU (Rapid treatment unit) for the lumbar puncture. They decided against the bone marrow biopsy today since the one they will do next week is the one that they really want the reading off of...
Alex did really well for all the treatments today. She is home resting now and will continue this course until next week where we find out what more is to be done. The bone marrow biopsy next week will hold a lot of answers for us. They want to see an abnormal cell decrease by almost all. I think they said the first reading was 80% abnormal cells and they want to see it at 5% at two weeks. SO... she needs some serious ass-kicking drugs in there fighting all the bad cells.
We are also doing an IV anti fungal medication twice a day.... Listen to how stupid this is... Our insurance will not pay for the anti fungal pill (well, they will but at $1300 a month our cost) but they will pay for the drug to be administered by I.V. This is where it's so frustrating that ALL healthcare insurance is is big business. No one really cares about the human element... or even the bottom line... it's just the "rules". Since the IV method is covered under "medical" it is paid... but the pill is covered under "prescription" so those benefits are different. AND they are both through the same company. The pill runs the insurance $2400 a month... the IV costs them $6400... the risk of infection is greater on the IV... the supplies involved are incredible... and the worst part is, is that Alex is hooked up to an IV pole at home for 5 hours a day! It would be different if this were just a 10 day antibiotic regimen but we have been informed that this drug will need to be given for a YEAR AND A HALF! At a cost to the insurance company at $74,800.00 a year! The pill, which Alex would only have to swallow twice a day will cost the same insurance company $30,568.00 a year. HELLO!!! Do these people NOT have an accounting department?
Well, that is my rant for the week :o) Actually, I have tons of things that I think are bullshit this week. Cancer topping the list... BUT, I am grateful for a few things... I could not ask for a better group of people that are here to support me!
I hope everyone has a great week... and I hope we have no complications and you don't hear from me until next Thursday. :o)
This is a photo of Alex with her new nook. My friend Kristy sent it to her. What an amazing gift. Thank you!
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