Week 2 after chemo | yosoyrosa's Blog

I wish I could say we're back to normal, but we're not quite there.  This week was a follow-up for the blood pressure (which is good) and a follow-up endoscopy that came back with positive news that nothing unusual was found - wonderful.  

If you're not sure what the endoscopy is, think about having a camera go really far down your throat.  This is really important for patients that have liver damage, as variceal hemorrhage most often occur in advance stage patients, that have veins of the esophagus that are swollen, can burst and start bleeding.  Its really quite dramatic, as the patient starts vomiting large volumes of blood, they're not very coherent and have very low blood pressure and may be in shock by the time they arrive in the emergency room.  These varicies may also appear in the stomach, intestine and colon, requiring a surgical shunt (TIPS) to prevent a re-bleed.  Schedule that colonoscopy & endoscopy at least once a year if you are at risk!  

There is still the whole emotional side of being sick & tired of being sick & tired. Along with that, add the stress of not contributing 100% of normal financially due to the near full-time job of being a patient, and watching the stock market tank in an 'economic meltdown'.   A 2005 Harvard study showed that in 2001, illness and medical bills were cited in nearly half of US bankruptcies for that year, most were middle class folks with insurance, and 56% owned a home, and were college educated.  The research, carried out jointly by researchers at Harvard Law School and Harvard Medical School, is the first in-depth study of medical causes of bankruptcy. With the cooperation of bankruptcy judges in five Federal districts (in California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas) they administered questionnaires to bankruptcy filers and reviewed their court records.  

I found that the online portal for my insurance cited coverage for the Nexavar, and had a form for the physician to fill in and fax the prescription.  It's been faxed over twice, and there is some kind of communication issue between doctor's office and insurance pharmacy, because we still can't order the medication.  

This weekend I'm staying at home, getting my honey hugs and doing the honey-do list.  At some point I'll have the bank and savings account reconciled, and take a look at what's left of our investments in the stock market.  We need to know for sure where we stand, and have a budget worked out, just in case we find the medication won't be covered after all.