New treatment plan
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Ron…I am so sorry to have missed your thread. Had it not been for Katja’s posting today I would have not seen it. As being said a significant portion of bankruptcies are due to the high medical cost in this country. It is a shame for a country as great as this to not tend to the ill. I much understand Ron. My current medical cost for my son (22) and myself comes to $1,400 per month. My son had been born with a congenital heart condition and I am looking for ways to reduce our cost. To this date l don’t know how this reformed health care system will treat those with pre-existing conditions.
Here are some thoughts and I am hoping for others to chime in: Compassionate use for chemo. I believe your income can’t exceed $75.000 per year. Negotiated payment plans for all other medications and procedures. Blood tests, can they be run through a county hospital for a lesser cost?
Then why is it: when my husband was receiving chemotherapy did the lady next to him receive for free the very same medication my husband’s insurance company had denied to cover? I am happy for her to have received it however, we pay very high premiums and at least should we be entitled to the same consideration. I had no idea that a Cobra plan can eliminate coverage for specific treatments. This subject had never come up on this board. Hopefully, someone will help us find the answers.
Best wishes
MarionRon,
I could cry for you and Lucille, in the UK we find it unbelievable this could happen. People might complain about the NHS but it’s all free (at the moment…). I just hope there is something out there for you.
KateGreat news, Rick,
I believe you are right, that there is so much data coming through that hasn’t been criticised yet. A lot of the studies are working on data gathered throughout the 90s. I so hope this chemoembolisation becomes the break that we’re looking for, and you are part of the success.
With much admiration,
KateRick,
I am so excited for you. My oncologist has mentioned this treatment to me but wants to wait until I no longer respond to chemo. I am not sure whether to push it. I anxiously await your results and am praying that 90-100% is you.
You are in my thoughts and prayers!
Good luck,
Charley
Rick,
Thanks for the update and I am glad to hear that your angiogram went well. Hoping that the rest of your treatment goes well and I will keep my fingers crossed for you.
Ron,
You don’t have to apologise ever about the length of your posts. They are most welcome here and it is great to hear from you as always. I am really sorry to hear about Lucille losing her insurance and medical benefits, and that is another level of stress that you don’t need right now. I wish that there was something that I could say that would help you here. Please know that I am thinking of you both.
Best wishes,
Gavin
Rick….what great news you have had. Of course, you will keep us posted as to the date of the Therasphere treatment so that a million good wishes can come your way.
This specific type of chemoembolization has been used by several members on this site however, not all institutions in the US, offer it to their patients. I am thrilled to hear that you fit the criteria for this treatment.
Best of all wishes,
MarionUpdate: The planning angiogram went great. There was no (or minimal) shunting to the lungs, which is one of the concerns with this therapy. So I am all set to go – just waiting on some final details such as the dosage and date of procedure. The dosage should be adequate to acheive the desired results because my liver is not cirrohotic and because there is no shunting, both of which require a reduction in dose. We are hoping to have this scheduled for 2 weeks out, but it depends on when the product is scheduled to arrive at the hospital. Interestingly, the product must be used within a very tight window of time after it arrives at the hospital. And, it is “made to order” so noone else can get my dose and vise versa.
As for the success of the treatment, one of the physicians told me that for cholangiocarcinoma there should be a 90% response rate. That is huge! And he said that a lot of the responders have complete responses, even up to 100% tumor necrosis. I wonder why this isn’t more well known and why so many people are pointed the route of systemic chemotherapy for unresectable cancer. If this treatment is all that it is cracked up to be, then we are on the verge of a major breakthrough. I am just speculating, but I think that a lot of the data that hospitals have on this hasn’t been fully released or criticized yet and that it hasn’t been a widespread treatment due to the difficulty in getting insurance to pay for the procedure and the overall cost.
Anyways – that is the latest. I have my thumbs up for treatment and my hands folded in prayer. I promise to keep you all updated on how this treatment goes and the results that I get.
Rick
Ron & Lucille, I am so very sorry to hear of your “situation”. It seems that the better the improvements trying to be made for us, just the opposite is happening! I wish there was some help I could think of but I am so useless in that direction. How about checking our search site about insurance stuff? Like we just don’t have enough to contend with? My best wishes for you and Lucille and hope you catch a break in all of this muck!
Hey, Rick, that is all good news. How can you miss with the love that surrounds you and your fantastick attitude! Wishing you the very best.
i have not posted in a while,i had to take a break because well i was just getting to upset and emotinal reading about how this monster is effecting the lives of the good people in this foundation…this might be a long post so let say im sorry now……
my wife has been fighting this monster now for the better part of 2 years and putting up one hell of a fight…she has continued to work through most of those 2 years, even while recieveing chemo and the y-90 treatment because she said it kept her busy and her mind off of this monster…ive seen how she would drag herself out of bed aganist my wishes and go to work, she has a strong will…she did this up to 8 months ago and couldnt do it anymore so the doctors put her out on disability which they wanted to do from the beginning…while she was out on disability she had her company benefits so her medical care was taken care of …now we just learned that her company is going out of business and her medical benefits will end the end of this month…not to worry i told her we will just pick up the policy (corbra) and pay the monthly premium for the same coverage that by law they have to offer you…well it didnt turn out that way…it seems by law they have to offer you a policy but not the same coverage…the policy they offer covers nothing but some, some of her blood work, no infusions, no port flushings, no chemo or chemo meds.and no treatment for high calcium and i can have all of this for 800 dollars a month…dont you love insurence co. they will let me pay for nothing…when i ask for a policy that covers her treatment needs they say sorry there arent any..im willing to pay and i cant get coverage for her and i have tried them all… so now we go to social security and try to get medicare..we are once again told sorry we can not help you, your wife is to young (58) for medicare and hasnt been disable long enough to be eligible for benefits…seems that you have to be disable for 2 years before you are eligible for medicare…so where does a person go in a situation like this…to me its just unbelieveable how they just dont seem to care about the people in this country….well i think i went on long enough, there is more lots more but thats it in a nut shell…again im sorry for the long post and know that you all have been in our prayers and will remain there…..lucille and ronHey Rick,
Thanks for sharing this great news!
I wasn’t aware either that theraspheres radioembolization is a form of brachytherapy. When my mother had her liver transplant for CC the path report said there was no tumor. It was necrotic. Since she didn’t have much chemo it had to have been the brachytherapy that did the job. I’m hoping the same for you.My best,
Ashley
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