Feel like I am being discriminated

Update

A brief update. Kaitlyn's appointment at Riley's went well. The doctors still feel her pains are more or less "growing" pains. Sally and I are not so convinced but respect their expert opinion. Right now they are going to watch and wait. Which I agree, is better then putting her through more blood work and test. She did test positive for a marker that is linked to lupus and arthritis. However, she doesn't have enough symptoms to make the doctors believe something else is going on. She goes back in March for a follow up visit.

We had a nice day when we went to Riley's. We took the kids to the zoo. Kaitlyn really enjoyed looking at all the animals. Zachary had a good time as well but was disappointed because he didn't see many turtles. Also, he wondered why zoos don't have turtle shows. More about that in another blog.

Today was the day for my colonoscopy. It was the best one so far. It was the best one so far because we canceled it. More insurance woes. I really miss having HMO. I didn't have to go through all the hassles that we are dealing with now. Routine colonoscopys are covered 100% by my insurance. Mine isn't considered routine since I had a tumor. Even if they found a polp it wouldn't be considered routine any longer. Now it's considered a procedure. Procedures have a $250 co-payment. I feel like I am being punished by my insurance company for having cancer. First it was the pump not being covered and now this. I will have the colonoscopy done but I am going wait until January. In November, my work has open enrollment for insurance and we can switch insurance plans. Hopefully, there will be one that will be more accommodating for me. Right now it feels my insurance company would rather have me die from cancer instead of helping me with my care. Now I am wondering if I am going to be charged $250 for having the wax taken out of my ears. I was told to go to the ENT Doctor before I got retested at work( I failed miserably the first time).

I had my cat scan over a week ago. It left me a little nervous because the tech needed to take some more pictures after viewing the X-rays. I found out later that is very normal which eased my mind. I go Thursday for the bi-weekly Avastin treatment and received a phone call that my doctor wants to discuss the results of the cat scan with me that day to.I am nervous about this one. I will keep everyone posted on the results. In the meantime, I will be a cooking up another post and praying a lot.

Prayer requests and update on Bill

This is Sally. Bill is in bed sleeping since he is working the midnight shift tonight. I would first like to ask for some prayers. Since we have been so blessed with prayers I would like to see others blessed as well. The first person is Gerry. Gerry was just diagnosed with colon cancer. The tumor was so large the colonoscopy couldn't not be completed just like Bill's. Not sure when the surgery will be but prayers are much needed.

The second person is for Lynn's dad. Lynn is a friend of Deb who is one of Bill's devoted blog follower and our good friend. He was recently diagnosed with cancer in his lymph node and lung. He will be having surgery in the near future.

The third prayer request is for a friend. Just like when it seems it can't get any worse for her it does. She is in a lot of pain and has no medical coverage. Plus she is in financial hardship.

As for Bill, well I am happy and he is not. The CT scan and PET scan came out clean. He is still in remission. Thank God. However, there has been some misunderstanding and Bill was caught off guard today. I think one of the hardest jobs in the world is to be an oncologist, even just to work in that department would be difficult. His doctor is very upbeat which I know it's very important in the recovery process. However, his doctor paints a rosier picture and doesn't tell the entire story. I understand the reasoning for it. If he were to tell Bill from day one that he would have at least 3 years of therapy I think Bill would would have given up. It would sound hopeless. Telling Bill he had 12 rounds and then later options will be discussed sounds a lot better.

Bill had the 18 rounds and today the "options" were discussed but not to Bill's liking. Which I don't blame him. At least he has choices (sort of). The first choice is to do nothing. Usually that is what a lot of older people do but for Bill, it's not recommended. The second option is just to have the Avastin therapy. This also is not an aggressive treatment plan and is not recommended for Bill. The other choice he has is to do Avastin and 5-FU which is recommended to help prevent the cancer from coming back. The 5-FU is given to him during the treatment plus he has it in a pump in which he wears for 46 hours. Bill hates wearing the pump and was so looking forward to no more pump. The though about having to wear the pump was not good news to him. The other thing is that 5-FU can be infused to him on a weekly basis. This way there will be no pump. On the other hand though, the effectiveness of this way is not known. The doctors' believe the pump is more effective but there is no data to support it either way. We were also lead to believe treatment would be for another 3 months but was told today it is recommended for another year. After the year and if he is still in remission then he will just have to have the Avastin therapy.

So even though the results were good it was still a gloomy day for Bill. Plus, he had only 3 hours of sleep. It was a lot of information to digest all at once. I want the best possible out come for him but the choice is his. I do not have to walk around with a pump connected to me so I don't know what he is going through. I do know it is cumbersome for him and that it gets in his way when he is at work. The doctor and I both suggested to him to think about it. So he didn't have chemo today but rescheduled it for Monday. On the way home we stopped at one of his favorite places and he had a plate of spaghetti. We talked about his options. As of now I think he is deciding on the weekly infusion treatments and not the pump. When his department at work goes back to the 12 hour shifts he will go back to the pump because then he can plan the treatments so he won't have to wear the pump at work.

Almost a year ago he was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. It didn't seem possible to get where we are at now. But by the grace of God, prayers and support of family, friends, and strangers he had came a long way. Maybe, it's not what Bill has hoped for but he will be fine after a good night sleep. He is a very lucky man.