No news is good news
What with how the world of social media has changed over the past 15 years, this doesn’t get as much attention. Sorry for those who use this as their only check.
Last week was uneventful. But, I want you to picture a photograph from WWI or WWII. A soldier, in a hospital bed, with a vacant stare on this face. Mustard gas attacks often left people with horrible facial burns, and blindness, but I’m thinking some of that was the systematic affects. Because that is how I feel for almost a week afterward. I can literally lay there and stare into space for hours. TV is too much, Twitter is too much. It’s Zombie Hope! But it usually passes in about a week. So by now, I’m pretty functional.
I think I have about 1/3 of the hair I had 3 months ago, which was already about 20% less than I had 3 years ago. The latter was apparently just “female pattern balding.” Boo! The former is obviously chemo. But this combo has “infrequent” alopecia, with published reports in the 5-15% range. Yay outlier. Again.
I have a PET scan on Thursday to see how well it’s worked, and I go see my doctor on Monday to discuss next steps. If it’s clear, I know he thinks radiation is the next step. For a bazillion reasons, I’m still hesitant. I’m going to see a cardio-oncologist on Friday to discuss how bad it would be for me to get radiation. Hopefully he’ll back me up with with a no, or else reassure me in his yes. To be honest, (another) stroke or a heart attack scares me more than cancer. Those are just so random, and can strike you down without warning. No thank you.
So the, what to do next. I had some thoughts, but they have now been tempered after seeing how much my insurance is balking at my current treatment. It bills at $78,000 a cycles, which means I’ve rung up a a bill of about $230k, and they haven’t paid anything so far. It’s going back and forth, and they haven’t denied it. Yet. I’m afraid that is where it’s going for a bunch of reasons. Partially because they did not show any preauthorization on file, and partially because I do not meet their stated approval criteria. Good times! I’m trying to wait until there is a decision before I panic.
On that note, I’ve decides to postpone my next cycle. It was questionable anyway, depending on the response seen on the PET. But I’m going to go on vacation instead! Last time, I took a mid-chemo vacation and came back with a fiancé. This time, I’m thinking that’s out of the question (seeing as how I’m still married to him). But we shall see. Oh, and we are splurging on a trip the Antelope Canyon. It’s always been on my “someday” list, so someday is here!
Last week was uneventful. But, I want you to picture a photograph from WWI or WWII. A soldier, in a hospital bed, with a vacant stare on this face. Mustard gas attacks often left people with horrible facial burns, and blindness, but I’m thinking some of that was the systematic affects. Because that is how I feel for almost a week afterward. I can literally lay there and stare into space for hours. TV is too much, Twitter is too much. It’s Zombie Hope! But it usually passes in about a week. So by now, I’m pretty functional.
I think I have about 1/3 of the hair I had 3 months ago, which was already about 20% less than I had 3 years ago. The latter was apparently just “female pattern balding.” Boo! The former is obviously chemo. But this combo has “infrequent” alopecia, with published reports in the 5-15% range. Yay outlier. Again.
I have a PET scan on Thursday to see how well it’s worked, and I go see my doctor on Monday to discuss next steps. If it’s clear, I know he thinks radiation is the next step. For a bazillion reasons, I’m still hesitant. I’m going to see a cardio-oncologist on Friday to discuss how bad it would be for me to get radiation. Hopefully he’ll back me up with with a no, or else reassure me in his yes. To be honest, (another) stroke or a heart attack scares me more than cancer. Those are just so random, and can strike you down without warning. No thank you.
So the, what to do next. I had some thoughts, but they have now been tempered after seeing how much my insurance is balking at my current treatment. It bills at $78,000 a cycles, which means I’ve rung up a a bill of about $230k, and they haven’t paid anything so far. It’s going back and forth, and they haven’t denied it. Yet. I’m afraid that is where it’s going for a bunch of reasons. Partially because they did not show any preauthorization on file, and partially because I do not meet their stated approval criteria. Good times! I’m trying to wait until there is a decision before I panic.
On that note, I’ve decides to postpone my next cycle. It was questionable anyway, depending on the response seen on the PET. But I’m going to go on vacation instead! Last time, I took a mid-chemo vacation and came back with a fiancé. This time, I’m thinking that’s out of the question (seeing as how I’m still married to him). But we shall see. Oh, and we are splurging on a trip the Antelope Canyon. It’s always been on my “someday” list, so someday is here!
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