Some Victories Today

Victory Number 1


Today is T's Last Chemotherapy!


Victory Number 2

T's scans show much improvement all around.....what was in her lungs is no longer visible, which was our big concern as the tumor on her breast will be removed surgically as will the lymph nodes under her arm.

Next step.....1 more scan next week and then a surgical consult the week after......surgery, then radiation.

She has to continue weekly IV's of one of her non-chemo drugs for the next year through all of this, although they may eventually be spaced further apart after the next month or 2.

Some of the side effect's will take 6 months to a year to get better, but we're headed in the right direction.

Victory Number 3

The Health Care Advocate for the State of CT, or rather his top employee, "M" and I, and our wonderful Oncologist, Dr. H, her billing manager G, called United Heath Care OUT on their lies. They claimed we and the doctors never sent them the forms they needed to process this claim and tried to say it was pre-existing. She also tried to say nothing was denied, but "in-review"

WELL.....

I had gotten copies of the flat out denial letters they sent Tina's doctors from G, scanned them in and sent them to her and cc:ed the Advocate AND the employer's liaison to UHC. Caught!

Dr. H called them herself twice and documented  who she spoke to and when and that she had made it perfectly clear this was not pre-existing.

G, had copies of all the forms she had sent to them (as did I) and copied and sent them again along with a new form faxed to her AND a copy to the Health Care Advocate as did all of T's doctors, making it clear that the UHC lady was a liar again.

Let me mention again how awesome the Health Care Advocate, M, was and is....she set it up so that ALL correspondence regarding T must be sent by email for documentation purposed and cc:ed to her, me, the HR liaison for T's employer to the insurance company......so when she lies or does something half @ssed, the Advocate and I could call her out for all to see.

Bottom Line, T may continue her care with HER doctors going forward and her claims will be processed.

Mind you, I'll believe they will pay those bills only when I see a check has been issued to her doctors and not before, because that UHC lady is sneaky. Thankfully the Advocate has her number and our back.

Sooooo relieved, I can't begin to tell you how many nights sleep I have lost over all this in the past month.

Special Note

Tina's doctors and their staff have been wonderful to us....they care for T and fight for her....and they even share in our joys at the small victories along the way.

Today is a GOOD DAY!

This Past Week

The Weekend

Had 2 friends come over Friday and had breakfast with another couple on Sunday, the weather was beautiful (60' in November!)....I could deal with this weather all winter...I'm dreading the cold weather coming.

It was nice to spend time with friends and be our old selves for awhile.

Chemotherapy Last Week

This week the 2 sweet little old ladies that I love to chat, were there at the same time as us. The one with cancer now, was just switching from T's original chemo. meds to the one's T's been on for 4 weeks now and was a bit nervous and scared.

It felt so good to be able to tell her, from T's experience, that the new chemo. was much easier to handle, especially as far as the nausea was concerned. We told her how much easier this cycle is compared to the last and I watched her visibly relax a little.

We did, however, warn her about the possible neuropathy....God, I hope she doesn't get it!

Her friend who comes with her every week also had cancer many years ago, so she understands and is a great support to her friend. I could listen to them telling stories of when they were young all day.

I hope they are there next week at the same time as us. When you have to be at the doctors for 4 to 5 hours it helps to have people who's company you enjoy there to pass the time.

Group

This past week, we went to a group meeting with other patients and their loved ones/care givers. It was kind of cool to talk to people and find that we've all had similar experiences with how this has affected all aspects of our lives....it was comforting in a strange way.

Usually, these groups are for patients only...so at the end we suggested they start a group for just loved ones and care givers....and agreed our meeting should be in a bar...LOL

I hope they do it though.

The Medical Stuff

The new chemo. is going well...the new side effects being dealt with OK...T is able to work 4 days a week now, with some pain, but still better then before.

At 1st the Taxol was a bit too strong for T's body to handle and she developed Neuropathy (nerve damage and pain in her hands and feet). So to make it easier to tolerate and keep the neuropathy from getting worse, they reduced her dose by 1/3, and extended her chemo. from 8 more to 12 more weeks and increased the frequency of her treatments from every other week to every week....the Neurontin is helping with the pain in her hands and feet.....doesn't take the pain away, but makes it bearable. Still we have to follow up with the specialist for the neuropathy in a few weeks to make sure it's not getting worse as this could be permanent damage to her body.

Her tongue has deep cuts in it still, from the previous chemo. (Adriamycin and Cytoxan) and now this chemo. adds a metal taste in her mouth which makes everything taste off.....so eating is hard....soft food with little or no seasoning is best. Although, because she has to take steroids the day before and after chemo. she is able to eat best on the weekends (she has chemo. Fridays)....so at least she has a few days where food may not taste right, but at least it doesn't hurt too much to eat. Needless to say, she's lost a lot of weight.

Watching all this helpless from the sidelines is killing me.

Chemotherapy is working....YAY!!!

In spite of the hell that goes along with it, the chemotherapy is working.

It's going to be for 12 more weeks of chemo. rather then 6, but after the 1st 2 treatments of the new chemo. (not counting today) we've already noticed quite a difference.

In case you don't remember the 1st round, which was more brutal, made the lesions in her liver no longer detectable as well as the lymph nodes in her chest. It shrunk the nodes in her lungs a little and also shrunk the lymph nodes under her arm a bit.

This new chemotherapy we discovered today, not only works especially well on the large, dense tumor in her breast, it will also continue to work of the other suspected tumors in her lungs, liver, and lymph nodes.

I know we still have a long road ahead, and some scary side effects to deal with, surgery to plan, and eventually 6 weeks of radiation/5 days a week, but at least we know it's working. IT'S WORKING!

I'm crying happy tears as I write this for the 1st time in a LONG time.....YAY!

A Much Needed Break

Long day ahead, but it's going to end with a much needed break.....yay!

Errands: I have to....

• hit the supermarket to return like a million water bottles and cans cause I put it off for way to long...LOL... and pick up a few things while I'm there.
• hit the wholesale place for a couple of things
• get T's scripts from the pharmacy 'cause she has to start her pre-meds for chemo tomorrow, tonight
• wash the kitchen floor and clean up around here a bit

A much needed break:

It's been a rough week...stress, when it gets to a certain level, causes some messed up problems for me. I haven't slept in like 4 days, my stomach has been so bad, I'm living on Zantac for the constant heartburn. I've been having panic attacks again....they are so bad, my heart hurts and I have to take medicine and chill. For those who don't know, I have a leaky valve, hence the pain with stress, and my asthma has really been bad too.....so I'm really looking forward to tonight.

Tonight I get a nice break. T's got her really sweet friend Sara coming over with home made dinner. I'm headed to the Barns and Noble to meet up with 1 friend Tina at 5:30 and another friend Amanda at 7:pm. Tina and I haven't had a chance to hang in awhile (both our lives have been crazy) so I'm really looking forward to seeing her. Then I'm meeting Amanda there who I just love to chat with about pretty much anything. We both love the book store and I just know I'm not getting outta there without something new to read....perhaps I'll find a Ken Follett that I haven't already read....and I always have to check out the geek mags....he he he

....and we're off.....