On Monday we had a flurry of tests, starting with an Echo Cardiogram, CT scan of sinus, and a chest X-ray. That afternoon we met with the financial coordinator to discuss the cost of the procedure. They want to be sure we are financially prepared.
The contracted cost with the hospital for the BMT is $250,000, which does not include the $38,000 estimated cost of retrieving the donor's stem cells, flying them to Denver and the donors medical expenses. Our Out of Pocket expenses is estimated to be $2,000 for the hospital, thanks to our United Airlines health insurance plan. How could anyone ever afford it without health insurance? They estimate our drug co-pay expense at $200 plus or minus (we all know which way that will be) a month once we leave the hospital for the first year. This all adds up to an esimated expense at $6,500 for the first year. The coordinator asked if we were OK with that number. Jody and I looked at each other and said nothing. You realize they have to ask but how do you respond... "is there anyway we could do it for less?" how about "is there a senior discount?" or "if we wait a year, do you think the price will come down?". The profoundness of it struck me as if we are buying a car. Has anyone really shopped their health cost around? Especially has anyone with cancer said "can I get back to you in a couple of days?" The cost is so insignificant when it comes to our health or for that matter our lives. We are thankful we have insurance and this is all it will cost, but if they told us it would cost $300,000... "where do we sign?"
Monday afternoon (after the financial coordinator) Jody was supposed to have a complete blood workup and a bone marrow biopsy procedure. During the blood workup (Jody swears they took at least 20 vials (small test tubes)... maybe 30, she claims she lost count, who am I to correct her...) they checked her INR and it was therapeutic, but it was too high for them to do the biopsy procedure, so we had to reschedule for Thursday.
Tuesday morning we met with her primary doctor who went over the results of Monday's tests. He was happy to see her pulmonary function had improved, but before stopping the home Oxygen he wanted to do one more sleep test to see how her Oxygen levels were when she was a sleep. He told us all the other tests looked great except her urinary test, which indicated she had an infection. Dr. Tormohlen prescribed her an antibiotic and sent us home.
Later that afternoon Derek and Trudy Mautz with their three children came into town to visit. They decided to take their family on vacation in Colorado.
On Wednesday, we decided to take the Mautz clan and on the Denver, Grand Lake, Estes Park loop using the Trail Ridge road through the Rocky Mountain National Park. They started ahead of us with a side trip to Georgetown. We connected up in Grandby and had lunch at our favorite restaurant in Grand Lake. We had a GREAT time, saw a lot of Elk (bulls and cows), saw a "mother" Moose and her calf, and other assorted creatures.
Thursday, Jody had her OBGYN visit followed by her annual breast exam. We had some time to kill before her bone marrow biopsy, so we went to City Park in downtown Denver (a few blocks from the hospital) and sat on our favorite park bench. We both fell asleep watching the Canadian Geese, Ducks and Egrets do their thing. Our biopsy procedure was scheduled for 2:30 but they were behind so we did not start until 4:00. The procedure went well except for the fact Jody did not feel she got enough of the GOOD drugs to put her out. I got to watch the procedure this time. WOW! was it ever intense! I will have to tell you sometime on a need to know or should I say "want" to know basis, one on one. The results of this test will tell us how her disease is behaving and where she is in the process. Preliminary results will be available on Tuesday, July 6 but the complete results will not be back until Friday July 9. If there are any surprises or unexpected results they will contact us, otherwise they (the BMT team) plan to discuss with us the results and ramifications on July 20 during our consent signing with Dr. Brunvand.
As I write this post, it is Friday, and we have completed our dental exam. We are now DONE. No more tests, all that remains his her eye exam. They (the BMT team) want her to have her eyes tested prior to undergoing chemo. During chemo treatments her eye sight will change, eventually coming back to what it was before chemo, so they want to make sure Jody has the most recent eye prescription. The eye exam is scheduled for Monday. So it is now time to sit back and rest.
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