I haven't got much to report. I had my second to last chemo infusion yesterday. Seventh of eight, so I can see the light. I had something going on at work I didn't want to miss, so I pushed this last one off till Saturday. Another dose of Taxol so this week isn't going to be fun, but I know what to expect and it will be over soon enough.
I meet with my surgeon next week to talk about mastectomy options. They usually schedule surgery about 3 to four weeks after the last chemo infusion so it looks like I'll be having surgery sometime early April. After that I get a month or so to heal then I start radiation, which is done 5 days a week for about 6 weeks. Then about 6 months after radiation, I schedule reconstruction surgery with a plastic surgeon. I think I've figured out who I want to do that surgery, but she's in New Orleans. Hmmm... I guess I could use a vacation. I've never been to New Orleans before. That surgery should be sometime in december so it might actually be a good time to see Louisiana. So, hopefully by the time this year is over, I should be done with this whole cancer drama for a while.
I have had amazing support from friends and family through this whole chemo ordeal. Within the first three or four weeks after I started chemo, I had enough food in my fridge and freezer to last me the whole four months of chemo. I still have a few in the freezer that should last me up through the end of my last infusion. I was showered with hats and scarves and doo-rags that made sure that even though I was hairless, I always had some sort of stylish headgear to wear. Many ladies in the neigborhood had Elijah over for playdates with their kids so I could come home from work and crash for an hour or two without having a 5 year old jumping on me saying, "Mom, I'm bored, get up and play with me!!!"
And I have had some pretty amazing heavenly interventions. The Neulasta I receive after every chemo infusion is a $6500 injection. This is the drug that stimulates my body to produce more white blood cells, since the chemo just killed most of them off. It is what allows me to have chemo every two weeks without a huge risk of being hospitalized with a common cold. A pretty amazing drug actually. Anyway, my insurance pays a huge portion of that, but we are still left with a $450 coinsurance every two weeks. When I first realized that, I kind of freaked out. An extra $900 per month on top of chemo and other costs, would have been a little more than we could handle. So I got online and started looking for any kind of copayment assistance programs for Cancer patients. Turns out that the drug company that makes that drug has a program that will pay for 100% of our copayment. It was a bit of a pain to get it set up. I had to go through the hospital and they balked at it. They had never heard of it (I was a little shocked at that. This was the Huntsman Cancer Hospital and this was a program for a drug that is given to just about every chemo patient they are treating). Anyway, it took a month before they could determine that there would be no legal ramifications for them to support the program and agreed to get me registered. That has really saved us.
I'm a control freak. I freak out a lot if I feel out of control. I like to have a plan.....for everything. As soon as I am faced with an unknown, I go into crazy librarian mode until I have a plan. I have learned in the last seven or eight years (over and over again), that any time I am faced with something that is beyond my control, the Lord steps in and makes things better. Not completely better. Just better enough that I can get my arms around the rest. Like with the Neulasta. Like when Neil's surgeon's waived $35,000 of their fee that they had every right to charge us when he had brain surgery 6 years ago. Like when we have always found just the right doctors just when it started to feel like no one would be able to help us. Miracles. Some tiny. Some kind of mindblowing. But all definitely heaven sent.
So we have been really blessed. Thanks to all of you for your part in all these miracles.
SEVEN DOWN ONE TO GO!!!
3 comments:
All I can say is WOW!! I still think you are amazing..... and it is good that the internet can help you find the plan/control that you need. I would have never thought about finding help to pay the copay. I didn't know that you could. Love ya sis.
Marie (& Neil) - All I can think is "I wish I could do more". We get wrapped up in our own world and "entitlements" and I don't want to forget your putting one foot after the other "marathon" each day. I'm praying that next year "this" year will be pages in the blog that we have all learned from. I love you!
With all those surgery options I have the perfect t-shirt for you. I hope you don't have it already. Do you still have your Grand Tetons sweater? Sorry I've been out for a while, my internet was down. My whole family is pulling for you!
Post a Comment