Finally Back Home

Things ran very far behind today for a variety of reasons. One of which being they decided we have to pay a lot more upfront than we have been each month as insurance is taking longer and longer to process payments while attempting to cut back on what they will cover and and arguing bills. I don't think this is a coincidence. I have no doubt these problems have been caused by Wal-Mart termianting her unpaid medical leave and Atnea handling  her COBRA coverage.

Sandi's blood work is not any worse than it was last week so the decision was made to go ahead and start with the first round of immunizations. Her immunizations are way late, but the delays have been caused because of the fragility of her immune system and everything that goes along with that. She received six injections for that. They also want to add another drug for her lung function deal and since it is very expensive that has to approved first by insurance.

Assuming nothing bad happens, we go back in two weeks for more blood work and a doctor visit.

Back Home Early

Back home early thanks to massive AETNA and WAL-MART screwup. They did not fix Sandi's insurance record as they assured her multiple times yesterday they would and had. Their failure means Sandi could not see the cancer doctor or have the IVIG infusion as scheduled. Just was able to do blood work after we payed $100 to do it.

Needless to say the patient is NOT pleased. 

Sandi and Wal-Mart

Sandi is done at Wal-Mart. They notified her via certified mail just now that they will NOT be extending her unpaid medical leave. Not surprised. Her leave ended March 20th and that will probably be her termination date. No idea yet how much COBRA will be.

Still Waiting on Texas Medicaid

as is Medical City Dallas Hospital who has placed us on their BILL EVERY TEN DAYS NO MATTER WHAT program. Four bills came today with statement dates ten days or less from the last billing on the same account. One came with a statement date of three days later than the previous bill.  Not only have we blown by the quarter of a million dollar mark-- just with them-- as of mid April, thanks to her insurance and all the exclusions and limitations we now allegedly owe more than 37 grand to the hospital.

Scary stuff.

Sandi Update

She had her shot early this morning and seems to be doing okay. So far so good. She did not get an afternoon nap today like she should have because our phone was constantly ringing. Over a dozen phone calls this afternoon and things seem to be coming together. Nothing is totally finalized, but, this seems to be the current plan.

In about ten days she will be in Jacksonville, Florida at the Mayo Cancer Center Clinic for her stem cell transplant. Because of everything here  I am not going to be able to make the trip. Somebody has to stay herewith the boys (both special needs and they can't drive)  and hold down the fort. Fortunately, a friend of hers has agreed to go and will be flying back and forth at various stages over the next two months to help Sandi as she goes through the process. The process is very complicated and I will explain later when I am in better shape to do so. The bottom line is Sandi will be gone for two months and I can't be there or do anything about it at all.

I'm very frustrated that things are being handled this way as it would have been easier on the patient and us if she had stayed here with the doctors she has been working with the last several months. We are not being given the choice to make the medical decisions on this as her employer, Wal-Mart, is mandating everything regardless of what the doctors involved, the insurance company, etc., think. We have no choice at all! The only saving grace in this is the fact that her cancer doctor here spent a lot of time in the past working with the man who will be working Sandi's case while she is in Florida and has tremendous respect for him.

I have to trust this stem cell transplant thing is not only going to work, but this trip and everything with it is the best thing for her. And somehow come to terms with the fact that there is not a damn thing I can do about any of it.

Round Three Begins.....

and is off to a chaotic start. Sandi is back in Medical City Dallas Hospital for her third round of chemotherapy. I won't take you through how  the sequence of things has changed several times this afternoon. It doesn't matter because everything we were told planning wise when she was finally admitted at 11 am this morning and through out the day is out the window and has been blown away up into Oklahoma at this point.

The current plan is now that she started the first chemotherapy drug at six tonight. This first drug should finish sometime before midnight.

At some point tomorrow morning, they will do a blood transfusion into her. How much? We have been told wildly different amounts so we have to wait to actually find out. I suspect this will be determined after they see how she is tonight and what they get when they again pull the blood at 4am. She is definitely anemic again at this point and was early this morning.

At some point tomorrow, they will heavily sedate her and move her radiology where they will do a lumbar puncture and inject a chemotherapy drug directly into her spinal column. We are told this is a routine procedure during the third round of chemotherapy and is done so that the cancer does not retreat into her spinal column and go to her brain.

As of today, the plan is she comes home late Thursday. We have also been told that assuming the pet scan agrees, it is almost time to start harvesting stem cells. This is way earlier than we understood before. It also has become a huge hassle far beyond what it already was because Wal-Mart will only pay her Aetna insurance claims/benefits if she goes to one of three "Mayo Cancer Centers." They are located out in Scottsdale, Ariz., Jacksonville, Fla., and Rochester, Minn. The fact that I am permanently disabled and medically unable to fly, the fact we have two special needs boys, the fact we have no resources, etc. does not matter as no exceptions are made. Supposedly they will pay for her and one family member to travel and stay at the Mayo location to receive treatment. How that all works, we don't yet know. If, for example, they pay by reimbursement to the patient after the patient has paid for plane tickets, it won't work as we have no credit cards. You don't have credit cards when you are dead broke, have no job, and have no credit.

So, how this is all going to work is something that is seriously up in the air right now. Hopefully, as the week progresses, things will start to shake out and will work out. But, this is another stressor we did not need and an added complication as she has no business flying anywhere for anything.

Unfortunately, it seems like we have no choice in the matter.

A Sandi Update--Wal-Mart

After being on leave for fourteen months due to a knee injury, a serious stroke, and a brutal battle against two forms of cancer Sandi returns to work at Wal-Mart tomorrow morning. She is thrilled.