Beating Cancer

“Let us know what they find Ped. You're in my thoughts and prayers. xo”

“Good luck!

I'm supposed to get my 5th chemo tomorrow. However, medicaid has not approved my CT/PET scan yet (been waiting 2 weeks).

Can't get more chemo without the scan. Guess I miss my next treatment. :(”

“That's so wrong. =(”

“Wow Bear - that is so wrong!”

“I hope you get some better news with the other tests and maybe it was just a glitch with the blood test. I read recently that it happens with blood tests for prostate cancer. Good luck with everything.”

“Ped--since you are rarely found on the "Atonement -- the next day" thread (as Bearmagnet is) posting there won't go far in expressing anything to you.

I will have to merely say . . .I will be thinking of you.



. . .and you too bearmagnet (sorry, no time to go get pictures today).”

“Bureaucrats suck!!!!!!”

“Bear, I hope you can get that taken care of and that maybe your congressman can help you out.”

“Thanks for the thoughts. It could just be a blip - calcium levels were normal. It could be another parathyroid getting wacko (which would be better than metastasis) or it could be something un-related.

Of course the last time I heard this kind of thing it turned out to be cancer - so my optimistic denial doesn't work as well as it once did.”

“Maybe MRI can check for anything suspicious.”

“ped - I'm thinking of having a drink, you?”

“Yeah - tonight I will definitely have a drink. or two. Here's to and to life bear magnet.”

“I'm supposed to get my 5th chemo tomorrow. However, medicaid has not approved my CT/PET scan yet (been waiting 2 weeks).

Can't get more chemo without the scan. Guess I miss my next treatment. :(”

Your doc needs to raise hell with them!”

“Ped, hoping it is a glitch and nothing more. best of luck to you...”

“Tell him Pathman said so. ;-D”

“Blips happen, but ya gotta make sure its a blip.

Cheers, I'll have a glass of wine in honor TT survivors tonight!”

““I'm supposed to get my 5th chemo tomorrow. However, medicaid has not approved my CT/PET scan yet (been waiting 2 weeks).

Can't get more chemo without the scan. Guess I miss my next treatment. :(”

Your doc needs to raise hell with them!”

Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, this is totally unacceptable BS. Go see your Doc, and camp in his office while he calls... he can do it in-between patients, no such thing as "too busy". There are ways around / through the beureacratic maze & any good Doc knows how to do it.”

“My Dr.'s caseworker has been hounding them. I'm on hold now with the CT/PET scan "director". She has 3 patients ahead of me......all waiting for medicaid approval for scans.

Apparently, Medicaid takes 4-6 weeks to approve these scans.

This is a job for my ANC rep, Jim Graham. I will be contacting him shortly. He's a good guy. A true "for the people" rep.


please remember medicaid isn't all bad. They gave me coverage within 1.5 weeks. Expediated through an emergency procedure for people in dire positions.


Still, this is unnaceptable.
last edited: 1/18/06 1:54:19 PM”

“Good luck on that, Bear. Like Wanderer says, use persistence. This is too crucial to let them put you on the back burner...”

“just got off the phone. Medicaid is suppossed to approve this crap within 48hrs. Apparently, though, a month is not unheard of.

Like I said, I will speak to my Rep. Not getting treatment is really stressing me out. Scheduled treatment is critical. I think I need a drink.

TTFN & Good luck Ped!”

“That is massive suckage, bearmagnet!

I'll be thinking about both you & Ped, hope it all turns out for the best...”

“Thanks, lyra.

#&%!$ medicaid
#&%!$ cancer
#&%!$ it all.”

“Guess I miss my next treatment. :(”
bearmagnet

my dad died from the treatments, was on the mend from the cancer.

maybe missing a treatment is a blessing in disguise”

“CB I feel for you, man. It's tragic and it sucks. I read your posts. And I think about you & your fathers experience.

My doc wants a scan before the next treatment. i think we are going to fight for treatment without a scan. I'm young. My heart is strong. My lungs are strong. Dani & i feel an overdose might be more beneficial than skipping treatment and allowing the Cancer to progress.

I had Stage IV as of November. the #&%!$ was/is all over my body, excluding my brain & bone marrow. The prognosis was for 12 aggressive treatments. I can not be clear after 4 treatments.

i do not want the cancer to have a chance. I do not want to risk its advancement into my bone marrow.”

“this is true. you are in much better health than my dad was. you should be able to withstand much more.”

“


this Man, a Dr., demanded more chemo from his Doc. he wasn't & didn't take their word that he was cancer free.
last edited: 1/18/06 5:51:27 PM”

“I was delayed on my last chemo by two weeks while they waited on my white blood cell count to recover, it had just crashed and burned. But my last CT scan was good, so my doc felt we could wait rather than completely destroy my immune system. All I can say about the situation you are in is " what a$$$holes"
Hang in there and good luck. Just had a follow up CT scan a week or so ago and haven't gotton results, so I hope no news is good news.”

“I learned a hard lesson thinking that no news is good news when medical facilities are understaffed and overwhelmed. I never got an important call about a test result and didn't bother to check on my own thinking like that and it turned out I had cancer and treatment was delayed several weeks because of it. If I learned anything about having cancer, the less mistakes you make the better your chances of beating it. From now on I'm calling back and checking on everything on my own.”

“Really sorry to hear that.

My wife has been cancer free for over 11 years, my best friend 3 years. It truly touches everyone.

Good thoughts and prayers to both of you.”

“bear magnet. Medicaid is state administered, try to find a website for your state's medicaid program, look for the ombudsman. Their job is to be your advocate (if it is working correctly, big question).

also, some patient advocate and resources on this page.
Health Insurance Resources

LIVESTRONG

another good page for you to check out. LAF provides this sort of advocacy and support.
SurvivorCare
Last resort, call your representatives. If the scans are truly not indicated, you may have a problem, but if it is merely delayed because of understaffing, a little heat may get you moved in front of somebody else, who may or may not need it prior to their therapy. Sucks, but the resources are limited. Also, the heat could get something changed for the better so it doesn't happen again to you or somebody else.

May be too late, but getting enrolled in a clinical trial will get you the most up to date therapy in the most up to date places.”

“The thought of personally trying to speak with DC Medicaid makes me nauseas. We discovered DC Social Security doesn't answer the phone.”

“crap. Does a bear #&%!$ in the woods?

Your are in DC, I forgot. The beaurocrat's beauracracy without true representation.”

“go for survivorcare, see what they can do.”

“LOL!

My ward Rep, Jim Graham, is a big advocate of the underdog, fight the beauracracy, defend the citizen. He wins a lot too.

We will be contacting him and he will investigate DC Medicaid on our behalf.

You just wonder how many people go through this BS and figure "that's the way things work". Without ever raising a stink, you know?”

“Ped, I hope and pray the elevated levels are nothing.

BM, good luck with getting your next treatment. I hope your Rep can help you out.”

“My doc decided to give me a full blast of my treatment. Hope I don't get Cancer from the chemo! ;)

I'm gonna have a CT scan next week and then "save" The PET scan, once approved, for when I'm done with 8 treatments.

Wanna see some photo's of today? :D

http://community.webshots.com/album/530728922mqLQBT”

“BM I'm trying to view your photos and dang webshots keeps tanking on me again. What's the gauge on that needle?! Yikes! I got as far as the needle with the guard down. I hope things all go well for you. You're in our prayers.”

“Webshots does seem to suck, eh? The self injection needle is actually only a 27g. Just looks big in the photo.

The infusion Needle is huge - 22-20g and about 1-2mm! That's half the reason they need a nice straight vein. She stuck me 3 times before hitting gold on #4”

“Lol, you just reminded me of what happens every time my dad goes in for bloodwork. First stick, and he's passed out on the floor. Scares the hell out of them every time.”

“Bear, maybe they should have installed a catheter in your arm since it would save you the daily needle sticks. I was glad to have one and no way I wanted to get needle sticks for 31 days.”

“Wow, I hope the best for you guys. My dear friend Maggie is fighting brain cancer. She has to fight with an HMO about coverage that she is clearly entitled to. They are the devil.”

“Thanks CD. Insurance sucks. The only good experience I had was when I had Cigna PPO. No fighting at all. I was even hospitalized for 4 days with diverticulitis. Most Insurers would freak after 2 days, they said nothing.

RichB - They have talked about a "chest port". I'll go with the arm sticks as long as I can. ;)

I only get stuck every other Thursday for chemo and every Thursday for blood draws. One of my good veins did fail for blood today. :(

Got a lot more, though! :D”

“That's not too bad then so I can see why you didn't get one. Catheters can get infected so no need to risk that or bother with the daily care for one.”

“Today's toll:

Recurrent throat cancer

New cancer in lymph node of neck, unknown primary so far, probably throat or mouth.

New cancer of the pancreas.

Uterus, ovary, cervix and thyroid....


Bearmagnet
I can't take the chemo for ya, but I can raise my glass of Pinot in a toast for your strength and quick recovery!”

“Good luck guys, I know how tough this can be, it's hit my family pretty hard.”

“Cancer sucks! Thanks Y2

It burns when I pee. I hope to God That's the chemo!!!!!!!!

LMFAO!”

“Hey Bear!

My dad had the chest port during his treatments. Try to go with the arm sticks as long as you can ;) Like Rich B said, catheters and ports are prone to infection and can be a real pain in the arse to clean and tend to. My dad's had to be put in twice because of problems with the first one :(

Anyhoo....ya look good. Can't wait to see on February 11th :) Keep up the fighting attitude!”

“Thanks Katie! Although, with a port, I might have a new delivery system for my coffee, no?”

“I never thought about it like that....you might be onto something ;)

You should run it by your doc. You might get a smile out of him/her. My dad's oncologist had NO sense of humor.”

“Anyone hear from Ped???

Katie - methinks Oncologist deal with a lot of death, no? difficult for them to laugh. Mine does like my sense of humor but he's leaving for a hospital in Florida next Month. :(

For all you bleeding hearts:

Leukemia/Lymphoma Society along with SEIU Americans for Health Care will be at my benefit.

http://www.seiu.org/issues/issue_ahc.cfm

Kinda cool, I think.”