Having to wait a week for scan results SUCKED.
I was a nervous wreck by the time appointment time came at 3 on Thursday afternoon.
My blood pressure was up, and I was feeling sick and running a low fever. I'd been unable to sleep most of the week, and was basically unable to focus.
BUT...the news was good! Everything was STABLE.
That means what happened during the first 6 months of taking the Ibrance chemo pill did the trick, but I took the chemo for another year after that.
Dave jumped in before I could, and asked if we could stop treatment.
The doc said he could go either way. He detailed his reasons, and then made a decision.
He said that we should continue with the Xgeva injections (that's the once a month shot that went from $3K to $11K, mentioned previously with great aggravation), and STOP THE IBRANCE!
No.
More.
Chemo.
No more chemo mouth. No more digestive issues. No more compromised immune system. No more thinning hair. Maybe my eyebrows will finally come back! Maybe my finger nails will lose that funny look they have, and be normal again. Maybe the dark hollows around my eyes will diminish.
I am MOST excited about the mouth issues being gone for good.
I have basically had ongoing mouth sores for the whole time (at times, they were constant, even during my week off of the drug every month), as well as that icky sort of "burned tongue" feeling that has an effect on how things taste, and causes general soreness.
The mouth issues have been the most impactful, for sure.
The bills still aren't sorted out (January's is now past due, and we just received February's), but Dave has been working on it. The program requires detailed EOBs from the insurance. The ones we typically have access to do not show the codes being processed.
He will get on the phone with the insurance company tomorrow to see about getting those EOBs. Then, we can fax those to the assistance program, and they will "load" that credit card I told you about.
THEN, we can call SSM (I refer to it as Satan's Sack of Money) Health, the new overlords, and pay the fucking bills.
I explained to my doctor and his nurse what SSM is doing, and how they are getting away with billing so much more for the same treatments. Doc realized that the modifications that they made to the office ventilation system last year was the prequel to SSM changing the office to a "facility."
In other news, we have been helping take care of our friends' pets while they've been in Japan this past week.
They have a live-in house sitter, but one of the kitties had the potential of needing some medication over the course of the week. We are experienced with that, and the house sitter is not.
Fortunately, we only had to give her medication once. She's been doing really well.
Today will be our last visit with her, as her mommy and daddy will be home tomorrow from their wonderful adventure.
We will work through this coming week, and then we are taking a week off to have a "staycation."
We will finally get the yard raked up, and I can start my container garden. I also plan to do some spiritual work around my progress toward being a cancer SURVIVOR instead of a WARRIOR.
THAT right there is pretty exciting.
Oh, and this coming Tuesday, our new doors and the concrete work are happening!
Sunday, April 8, 2018
Sunday, April 1, 2018
April is here!
When I tried to pay my bill on Friday with the assistance card, it was declined by SSM Health.
The customer service rep said that I must need to activate the card or something.
No, there is no activation.
I tried to call the place I got the card from, and they were apparently closed for Good Friday, just like my office was.
Thus, the bill is still not paid, and I still don't know if the new overlords will take the assistance money or not.
Why the fuck would they NOT? Money is money.
However, my nurse (when I got my labs drawn before my scans) said on Friday that lots of patients are complaining about assistance programs not being accepted.
I was so aggravated on Friday that I was just going to call back and pay with a different card, but Dave would not let me. He's determined that we can make them accept the assistance money.
Anyway, I don't know when my scan results will come.
If no one calls me tomorrow, I will guess that the news was good, and I will get the results when I go for my monthly shot and doc visit on Thursday (when the news has been bad in the past, they have called and had me come in immediately, so I am dreading that possibility).
HOWEVER, given the new overlords, I can't even confidently guess at anything anymore.
Be that as it may, I am hoping that the waking dream I had this morning, in which a "Fairy God Mother" type of thing was happening, comes a little bit true!! One of my wishes was for NO MORE CANCER CELLS, EVER, and she said "DONE!"
Our new fridge came yesterday, and I am in love. As much as I hated spending that much of the tax refund, I am going to be very happy with the new appliance.
The front screen door has been ordered (the back storm door is always kept in stock), and the door installations, and little bit of concrete work, have been scheduled for a week from tomorrow.
Dave is finally going to see Eric today for the first time since the Great Christmas Vomit Fest. Interesting that it also just happens to be Easter.
Then, Dave is taking his car to a family friend to get it worked on. I will be home, cooking several different things and relaxing.
Happy April, and happy Easter to any out there who celebrate it.
The customer service rep said that I must need to activate the card or something.
No, there is no activation.
I tried to call the place I got the card from, and they were apparently closed for Good Friday, just like my office was.
Thus, the bill is still not paid, and I still don't know if the new overlords will take the assistance money or not.
Why the fuck would they NOT? Money is money.
However, my nurse (when I got my labs drawn before my scans) said on Friday that lots of patients are complaining about assistance programs not being accepted.
I was so aggravated on Friday that I was just going to call back and pay with a different card, but Dave would not let me. He's determined that we can make them accept the assistance money.
Anyway, I don't know when my scan results will come.
If no one calls me tomorrow, I will guess that the news was good, and I will get the results when I go for my monthly shot and doc visit on Thursday (when the news has been bad in the past, they have called and had me come in immediately, so I am dreading that possibility).
HOWEVER, given the new overlords, I can't even confidently guess at anything anymore.
Be that as it may, I am hoping that the waking dream I had this morning, in which a "Fairy God Mother" type of thing was happening, comes a little bit true!! One of my wishes was for NO MORE CANCER CELLS, EVER, and she said "DONE!"
Our new fridge came yesterday, and I am in love. As much as I hated spending that much of the tax refund, I am going to be very happy with the new appliance.
The front screen door has been ordered (the back storm door is always kept in stock), and the door installations, and little bit of concrete work, have been scheduled for a week from tomorrow.
Dave is finally going to see Eric today for the first time since the Great Christmas Vomit Fest. Interesting that it also just happens to be Easter.
Then, Dave is taking his car to a family friend to get it worked on. I will be home, cooking several different things and relaxing.
Happy April, and happy Easter to any out there who celebrate it.
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
EXTRA POST....assistance....
Thanks to a friend whose mom is also a cancer patient, I obtained a link to a website for an assistance program to help me pay my vastly increased costs for my monthly injection.
I got signed up, and today, the mail carrier brought what looks like a MasterCard debit card.
Hopefully, when I call to pay my bill with this card, that will be that.
Oh, and I can't remember if I posted WHY my costs went up so far....we were able to figure it out.
I've been in the medical billing field for 18 years.
I had Dave call the insurance company and ask them what kind of forms my claims were coming through on before, and what kind of forms they're coming through on NOW.
My doctor's office used to be independent.
In December, it was taken over by a large regional hospital system.
SO, how interesting..... in December, the method of billing the charges changed from using a HCFA1500 form, to using a UB04 form, which is used for hospitals.
That makes it "okay" for the charges for THE EXACT SAME THING to go from $3266 to $11,154 PER ENCOUNTER.
SIMPLY BECAUSE St. Anthony Health System changed the designation of the clinic that I have always gone to from a doctor's office to an OUT PATIENT FACILITY.
That simple change makes it possible for them to charge four times as much for the exact same services.
I just keep praying that my insurance doesn't have a life time maximum.
Sunday, March 25, 2018
Change of attitude
Last week's post was all about being aggravated about having to spend money on a Sunday plumber visit.
While what WAS very aggravating, it really was okay. It hurt a little to have to spend three times as much money as we could have spent if Dave could have fixed it himself.
The fact is, though, that the plumber, with all of his fancy tools, and his well-practiced skills, had trouble getting the thing apart, too.
The fact is also that we had the money.
Sure, it could have been used for something less aggravating! Maybe we'll take a couple of weeks off from having our once a week meal out, or maybe we won't. We have to live our lives
It is what it is, until it isn't, as I like to say.
I just let it get to me.
Then, this past week, our really big windfall came via our tax return. Owning two pieces of real estate helps us out a lot. Re-financing my condo last year helped us a lot.
Our plans for home improvements for this year (we always try to use our refund to improve the functioning of our home in some way) are partially outdoors and partially indoors, and partially...well...DOORS.
Our refrigerator is still WORKING, but the door hinges are starting to fail. It can't have items stored in the door shelves, because, when it does, it breaks through holes that it has created in the bottom of the fridge along the "threshold" area.
There are three little holes there, and if we store stuff in the door, we can't open it, and sometimes, it doesn't close all the way if we aren't paying attention to it.
So, the interior capacity of the main compartment is over loaded. The glass shelves are actually bowed.
This fridge was here when we moved in, and the house was flipped in 2007, so it's most likely 11 years old. Granted, that is NOT old for a fridge, but we need one that we can open, and that we know is closed when we close the door.
We looked on line a little, and we browsed at a couple of stores, and yesterday, we went to Lowe's and ordered a new fridge!
https://www.lowes.com/pd/LG-24-1-cu-ft-Bottom-Freezer-Refrigerator-with-Ice-Maker-Smooth-White-ENERGY-STAR/1000064389
We got it for a better price that in this ad, and we purchased the warranty as well. We got the stainless steel finish color, and it will be delivered next Saturday!
Next up, we will get a quote for having a little bit of concrete work done along the driveway. There are two narrow strips on the sides of the driveway under the carport that (for some reason) we did NOT have filled in with concrete when we had the big job done in 2013.
Those areas are full of cat shit from the wildings we care for, and they get muddy and messy when it rains.
Dave has talked about filling them in with gravel, but bags and bags of gravel are actually pretty expensive, and he'd have to lug them home and fill it in himself, and that shit is obviously very heavy.
Cats will also continue to poop there if it's just gravel.
And, last but not least, we want a storm door for the back, and a wooden screen door for the front.
The back is exposed to the elements, and the front is under the protective front porch.
That will help ventilation in nice weather SO very much, and will also help, in the back, with sealing a drafty door way.
Our handy man will also be giving us a quote for installing those doors, which we have already picked out at Lowe's.
I made dinner for a friend last night, and she hung out here for the evening. That was fun.
Dave got his pop taken care of yesterday, and I did chores and laundry, and some weed whacking out back.
Then, last night, I made Moroccan food for the friend who brought me the preserved lemons needed to make the food! It was delicious, and she hung out here with us until late in the evening. SO much fun.
Today will be easier. We might go to the Tower Theater to see Monty Python and the Holy Grail on the big screen. THAT would be fun, but it's $20, so we'll decide later.
Right now, I am off to start breakfast. Have a great Sunday!
While what WAS very aggravating, it really was okay. It hurt a little to have to spend three times as much money as we could have spent if Dave could have fixed it himself.
The fact is, though, that the plumber, with all of his fancy tools, and his well-practiced skills, had trouble getting the thing apart, too.
The fact is also that we had the money.
Sure, it could have been used for something less aggravating! Maybe we'll take a couple of weeks off from having our once a week meal out, or maybe we won't. We have to live our lives
It is what it is, until it isn't, as I like to say.
I just let it get to me.
Then, this past week, our really big windfall came via our tax return. Owning two pieces of real estate helps us out a lot. Re-financing my condo last year helped us a lot.
Our plans for home improvements for this year (we always try to use our refund to improve the functioning of our home in some way) are partially outdoors and partially indoors, and partially...well...DOORS.
Our refrigerator is still WORKING, but the door hinges are starting to fail. It can't have items stored in the door shelves, because, when it does, it breaks through holes that it has created in the bottom of the fridge along the "threshold" area.
There are three little holes there, and if we store stuff in the door, we can't open it, and sometimes, it doesn't close all the way if we aren't paying attention to it.
So, the interior capacity of the main compartment is over loaded. The glass shelves are actually bowed.
This fridge was here when we moved in, and the house was flipped in 2007, so it's most likely 11 years old. Granted, that is NOT old for a fridge, but we need one that we can open, and that we know is closed when we close the door.
We looked on line a little, and we browsed at a couple of stores, and yesterday, we went to Lowe's and ordered a new fridge!
https://www.lowes.com/pd/LG-24-1-cu-ft-Bottom-Freezer-Refrigerator-with-Ice-Maker-Smooth-White-ENERGY-STAR/1000064389
We got it for a better price that in this ad, and we purchased the warranty as well. We got the stainless steel finish color, and it will be delivered next Saturday!
Next up, we will get a quote for having a little bit of concrete work done along the driveway. There are two narrow strips on the sides of the driveway under the carport that (for some reason) we did NOT have filled in with concrete when we had the big job done in 2013.
Those areas are full of cat shit from the wildings we care for, and they get muddy and messy when it rains.
Dave has talked about filling them in with gravel, but bags and bags of gravel are actually pretty expensive, and he'd have to lug them home and fill it in himself, and that shit is obviously very heavy.
Cats will also continue to poop there if it's just gravel.
And, last but not least, we want a storm door for the back, and a wooden screen door for the front.
The back is exposed to the elements, and the front is under the protective front porch.
That will help ventilation in nice weather SO very much, and will also help, in the back, with sealing a drafty door way.
Our handy man will also be giving us a quote for installing those doors, which we have already picked out at Lowe's.
I made dinner for a friend last night, and she hung out here for the evening. That was fun.
Dave got his pop taken care of yesterday, and I did chores and laundry, and some weed whacking out back.
Then, last night, I made Moroccan food for the friend who brought me the preserved lemons needed to make the food! It was delicious, and she hung out here with us until late in the evening. SO much fun.
Today will be easier. We might go to the Tower Theater to see Monty Python and the Holy Grail on the big screen. THAT would be fun, but it's $20, so we'll decide later.
Right now, I am off to start breakfast. Have a great Sunday!
Sunday, March 18, 2018
Never fails...
Something that requires a house call for a repair always seems to happen on a Sunday or a holiday.
This time, it was the shut off water valve for the toilet.
Dave tried to take it apart to fix it himself, but it was frozen so tight with corrosion, that we had to call a plumber.
What should have cost us about $25 ended up costing $275.
Add that to the $1700 medical bill I just got because my monthly treatment nearly quadrupled in price when my doctor's office was taken over by a major regional hospital system, and our tax refund is already spent!
Oh, and I will get another bill for another $1700 for my February treatment, so I have that to look forward to as well. That will meet my annual out of pocket before March!
Great.
Don't get me wrong. We do okay. We pay our bills, and we can afford the occasional luxury, but then stuff like this happens, and it's just so aggravating.
We've been fortunate, though. The past few years, our annual windfall has made home improvements possible.
My medical bill fund raiser from a couple of years ago made those bills go away from the expensive chemo that I had to have every week.
I guess I'm just frustrated. We had hoped to pay down some debt this year. Not gonna happen.
This time, it was the shut off water valve for the toilet.
Dave tried to take it apart to fix it himself, but it was frozen so tight with corrosion, that we had to call a plumber.
What should have cost us about $25 ended up costing $275.
Add that to the $1700 medical bill I just got because my monthly treatment nearly quadrupled in price when my doctor's office was taken over by a major regional hospital system, and our tax refund is already spent!
Oh, and I will get another bill for another $1700 for my February treatment, so I have that to look forward to as well. That will meet my annual out of pocket before March!
Great.
Don't get me wrong. We do okay. We pay our bills, and we can afford the occasional luxury, but then stuff like this happens, and it's just so aggravating.
We've been fortunate, though. The past few years, our annual windfall has made home improvements possible.
My medical bill fund raiser from a couple of years ago made those bills go away from the expensive chemo that I had to have every week.
I guess I'm just frustrated. We had hoped to pay down some debt this year. Not gonna happen.
Sunday, March 11, 2018
Finally, some down time
This weekend has actually had some measurable down time for me!!
I got my monthly massage yesterday, and we got in the hot tub last night.
I really needed it, as I have been given a new task at work that is all data entry, and it has had my neck and shoulders in knots.
Had my monthly shot and a nurse visit on Thursday. I was able to tell her about my increased fatigue, constant mouth issues (though the horrible canker sores are improved, they still do come, and there is also the ever present dry mouth and weird taste), and other side effects from the chemo pill that seem to be increasing again.
I wasn't able to schedule my scan day for April because the doc wasn't there to order it, but I should hear from them this week to get that set up.
Obviously, my hope is that everything will still be stable, and that maybe the chemo can stop for a while.
Today, we hope to FINALLY get to work on our taxes. We've never done them this late before.
Dave was supposed to meet up with his son today, for the first time since the horror that was Christmas Eve.
Eric backed out. So "the talk" still hasn't happened. Oh well!
I'm glad that Dave will be here all day, so that we can do the stuff we need to do.
I also have a couple of cooking projects, and some laundry to do. We'll be going to get some sheets and towels first, but that won't take long.
I got a lot done yesterday, which was very satisfying. Even cut back the artemesia plant out back that desperately needed to be tamed.
Best wishes for a nice Sunday to anyone out there who reads this!
I got my monthly massage yesterday, and we got in the hot tub last night.
I really needed it, as I have been given a new task at work that is all data entry, and it has had my neck and shoulders in knots.
Had my monthly shot and a nurse visit on Thursday. I was able to tell her about my increased fatigue, constant mouth issues (though the horrible canker sores are improved, they still do come, and there is also the ever present dry mouth and weird taste), and other side effects from the chemo pill that seem to be increasing again.
I wasn't able to schedule my scan day for April because the doc wasn't there to order it, but I should hear from them this week to get that set up.
Obviously, my hope is that everything will still be stable, and that maybe the chemo can stop for a while.
Today, we hope to FINALLY get to work on our taxes. We've never done them this late before.
Dave was supposed to meet up with his son today, for the first time since the horror that was Christmas Eve.
Eric backed out. So "the talk" still hasn't happened. Oh well!
I'm glad that Dave will be here all day, so that we can do the stuff we need to do.
I also have a couple of cooking projects, and some laundry to do. We'll be going to get some sheets and towels first, but that won't take long.
I got a lot done yesterday, which was very satisfying. Even cut back the artemesia plant out back that desperately needed to be tamed.
Best wishes for a nice Sunday to anyone out there who reads this!
Sunday, March 4, 2018
Spring dance showcase....
Click images to enlarge!
ADDENDUM: Here are some additional pictures. Some taken by the pro at the show, and some taken by my teacher/director who was at my end of the stage....
The Spring Showcase for the dance studio was a month earlier than usual, so we had less time to prepare. As a result, most of the teachers did shorter choreographies for their classes, and there were no "drum" add ons at the end of the dances.
My class did a cute choreography that I really liked. In the end, I was the only one in the class who actually remembered the full choreography, and performed it perfectly.
I wonder what the video will look like when we get to see it.... It will either look like I was the one who was wrong, or it will look like a jumbled up mess, HAHA!
Oh well, we had fun, and we got on stage. That's what really matters.
ADDENDUM: Here are some additional pictures. Some taken by the pro at the show, and some taken by my teacher/director who was at my end of the stage....
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