marylloyd

Jamie,
My husband was uninsured when diagnosed and because he was given permanent disability status immediately was able to be covered by Ohio’s Medicaid disability program. He is now on Medicare. He has never been denied or had to fight for a single treatment. In fact his treatment was much different than most indiviuals on this board and probably would have been denied as not being proven effective by a private insurer.I feel he may not be alive tody if he had private insurance rather than Medicaid. I have personally had nothing but trouble dealing with claims from private insurance companies. The few times I have had medical issues have resulted in my having to file three complaints to my state insurance commission to get the companies to pay the bills they were responsible for. I think people are being fed a lot of propaganda as far as the ineffectiveness of gov’t programs. My son has had Tricare through the Army and both sets of parents have had Medicare with absolutely no complaints or problems. Don’t be afraid. I actually believe more money will be available because right now healthcare is being run as a for profit business and that is not right. Mary

Hi Kay,
My husband has had the same thing happen. He has been cancer “free” for 2 1/2 years after being diagnosed three years ago. His marker has risen the past six months but they feel it has to do with his radiation stricture causing blockage and inflammation from procedures he has had done. He had four tissue biopsies from the area of the original klatskin tumor done in Feb and they came back negative. Just another puzzling aspect of this cancer!! It scares the heck out of you though, but I’m glad to see your Dad’s Drs. are very proactive and keep close tabs on him. My husband’s are the same!! Best wishes, Mary

Wow, another one to add to Tom’s regiment. I just started giving him Turmeric which I have been taking and having good luck with. It really helps with arthritis pain and fighting liver tumors. I have occasionally taken melatonin and it does help me sleep so I’m going to give it to Tom too. I don’t think I’ll do the 20mg though. Kristen, I am also a great believer in the power of these supplements. Tom says he feels better than he has for years. I just have to keep the diet in line. We get off track sometimes and we both need to do better. It’s hard to not grill and eat ice cream in the summer! Ha! He loves watermelon thogh and that is really good for you so we eat a lot of that. Take care all and thanks for the info. Mary

Yes, thankyou Stacie and Rachael. It just makes me so sad to come on here and know he is gone along with so many others that were here when I first started. Lainy and Teddy are the only others left that were here three years ago and that is unbelievable to me. What a cruel monster this cancer is but what valiant , kind, wonderful people I have come to know and admire because of it. It’s mind boggling to know how strong Jeff was and how deep is love for life was. I really miss his presence here but we will all work at keeping his spirit alive by continuing to help others through their struggles. God bless you Jeff. Mary

Michelle,
My husbands Drs talked about metal stents but we always said no. He actually is stent free at the moment so I think we were right to stick with the plastic. “Permanent” bothered me too. It really limits your options!
Mary