Thursday, January 22, 2015

First Post-Chemo Cat Scan done today

Louise Belcher, Finn or just a cat?
Kris went to NYU Langone Medical Center for her first CT Scan after nine weeks of chemo. We will be seeing the oncologist on Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 11:30 AM to learn the results, so keep your fingers crossed. We will keep you posted. 

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Kris Finished First Round of Chemo on Tuesday Jan. 6

Resting with the AniPals:
Murray, Dino and Desi (front)
After nine sessions she gets a few weeks off before her next MRI, which will precede her surgery, currently scheduled for February 11. Unfortunately she has come down with a cold, with congestion and an ear ache. She doesn't have a fever so no one is alarmed yet. 

In the middle of all this, we are facing new challenges with our "new 2015" insurance company and their new "Pharmacy" (Express Scripts). Because of our forced switchover to a new healthcare plan ("we liked our old plan but we couldn't keep it") we had to start from scratch for nearly every aspect of her treatment, including the specialists, tests and the chemo treatments; with doctor's reports, pre-approvals, "bridges," and "overrides." And there are two Tier 3 drugs which she now requires daily, both of which we are about to run out of. We could not just refill them with Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy as in the past, or go pay outright for the drugs because they are very costly biologics. One of the drug companies offered Kris a free two month supply on an emergency basis, but as of yet nothing has been mailed to us. 

A lot is still up-in-the-air. It is one thing to be sick, and another to be sick from dealing with this absurd healthcare system, where some people pay nothing and others go bankrupt because of a serious illness. 

Hopefully everything will be worked out without interruption, despite the fact we are still waiting for our new, more expensive, 2015 Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance cards. Happy New Year to all.