One down, another to go

My recovery after the last 12th chemo was relatively easy and familiar to the bone now, so, of course as soon as the fatigue subsided, I was off enjoying Boston with friends and family. 

Love, Love Boston... the weather cooperated and this week happened to be restaurant week --- even better.

As my white and red cells counts are too low for the next week's new chemotherapy, and the insurance failed to deliver a Granix shot on time -- the best prescription that I know to get these cells up is fun, friends, sun, meat and cod liver sandwiches (the last one beats raw beet juice any time)!

Insurance hell

 

A separate note about the joys of our health insurance.

We have what is supposed to be one of the best company health insurances, Microsoft’s Blue Cross Blue Shield. And it does pay for most of my treatment, except for the times that it doesn’t.

One of the preferred treatments for my chemotherapy is a hormone that increases white blood cell count. My doctor wanted me to have it, as a preventative measure for my first chemotherapy cycle. My insurance denied it outright and then again on appeal because "it wasn’t medically necessary".

So during my 11th chemo session, my white blood cell count dropped to the point that half my chemotherapy had to be left out. There wasn't enough time to get the shorts... and  I mean, who wouldn't want to spend their time battling bureaucracy and filing complicated appeals when it already been denied? And don't you just love it when the insurance company decides that a treatment that's literally standard protocol for cancer is "not medically necessary"? I mean, what do those pesky doctors and medical researchers know anyway?

In a week, I am starting my second round of a different type of chemotherapy, when this growth hormone is part of the standard procedure; my insurance can’t deny it. But what they can do is deny the brand name version, which gets administered once a week. Instead, they approved the generic version that needs to be injected five times over the week, each time with a nurse who has to come over to perform the injection.

It is hard for me to imagine that it would cost more for the total of 4 shots for the brand drug vs the 20 shots plus 20 nurse visits, but it is what it is and the bureaucrats are adamant! Not to mention that it definitely more painful and more complicated for me. And, in addition to that, I’m the one that has to arrange with the nurse, while I’m weak from my current chemotherapy. Joy!

All in all, it's just wonderful to have health insurance that puts bureaucratic nonsense and penny-pinching ahead of actual patient care and expects you to have the stamina to deal with them during cancer treatments!

Wig 2.0

Today I finally got my long haired wig at a fancy Newbury salon. And it feels so much better than the other ones I got back in December, that even though it looked good the "plastic" feel of it was off.

It took several calls to the insurance, two consultations at the salon -- selection and decisions, and an actual hair cut to fit, but now I have it.  

4th day after 7th chemo

Let me tell you how I like Mondays -- most of the side effects wear off and I have the energy to have a normal life and to tackle mundane everyday tasks! 

This time around the side-effects were the familiar fatigue, it seems to linger a little longer each time. There's nothing like a good movie marathon to help with that. Can you imagine life before Netflix? Reading is too tiring and considering that now I have to wear glasses, headache inducing. 

However, not all was just lying in bed all day. In between the bouts of fatigue I even managed to finally organize the medical bills and that is not a small feat. It requires a skill set that most of us do not possess on a good day, let alone during chemo treatments, yet must navigate nonetheless -- those endless bills, deductions, co-payments, refunds.....

Also, now that the reality of oncoming baldness is here, I tried to learn how to tie turbans, and OMG, they make it look so easy in all those YouTube videos! One, two, three and the perfect turban... after 10 minutes, mine, on the other hand, looked crooked, constantly sliding off or to the side, and looked like something straight out of a zombie apocalypse movie.

So, at some point I gave up, got the wig out of the box and gave it a hair cut, as it seems that wearing it at least sometimes will be inevitable. Trying to embrace the chaos and have a little fun with it...

And, those mouthwatering dishes sent by Anya 💓, the cooking angel, were enough to make any foodie drool. It's like a warm hug from the inside out, nourishing not just the body, but the soul.

All together I think, my side-effected weekend was pretty great!

WIG

 

WIG. I will need one soon, though right now I still have my hair intact. 

Welcome to the American health insurance system. Blue Cross Blue Shield, it seems, provides a patient with a wig reimbursement voucher per calendar year, based on the doctors prescription. It took a while to figure this one out.

First, we were told that the wigs are not covered.

Secondly, were told, that we need to get the specific doctor's prescription, though I am already in the chemo cycle.

Thirdly, after several interactions with different customer care specialists we found out the actual amount that is covered ($500) only after reminding the representative regarding MA law, that requires wig coverage for cancer patients in MA of at least $350. 

So, two days before the year 2022 was over, we got the approval for the WIG.

Turns out, it is not as simple as go to the shop, pick one, and be done with it.

EVERY place requires an appointment for at least an hour, and even at the Dana Farber wig shop you can't just come in off the street and they were booked solid for the next few weeks. There went my $500 wig out the window...

A friend of ours recommended this place, Ara's Salon and Hair Studio, down in Wareham, an hour's drive from our house. Roseanne was really accommodating and met with us on Saturday morning at 8:45 am, the last day of 2022, on December 31 to pick the wig.

I am thinking how lucky I am to have the aptitude and the energy to deal with the insurance system right now, but it is an unfriendly force, for sure. How do people hugging the toilet bowl after chemo treatments deal with the endless medical expense lists, double billings, or even simple wig purchases?

Now, I just need to explain why I have all these wig pictures, while I still run around with a head full of hair. It's the system, baby!

CT scan 12/17

My insurance finally approved the CT scan (a week ago it had issued a denial, as stage 3 breast cancer is not enough of a reason for the scan to see if there are any other metastases). Called the clinic and the Lahey technician was able to squeeze me in at the last minute at the end of the week on Saturday 12/17 at 8:45 in the morning. Kudos for that. 

The familiar basement 2 west wing lab. Had to remove all metal (zippers, wires), get an iodine IV (to add to the radioactive solution from last time), and I am off on the girdle into the metal donut. 

The scan itself was quite short, only 20 minutes, and not at all claustrophobia inducing, unlike the MMR or even the bone scan. 

I even managed to make it back in time for Max's clarinet school recital at 10:30!