I need help

[Fran]

Hi all:

Well, husaband Jim is finally going to a Oncologist that he likes and will be starting Vidaza on the 10th of November. My daughter wants us to fly out to Sacramento and spend Thanksgiving with them, but I don’t know how Jim will take the treatments. He will be on Medicare plus United Health and the Onclogist said that it will pay for the Vidaza. I sure hope it will because it is costing us 200.00 a month more for health insurance.
Fran wife

[Jimbob]

Fran,
Is that United HealthCare? If so, see if your plan has special coverage for transplants and/or if a case manager is available to help your husband get the care he needs. UHC was my primary until I went on Medicare 2 months ago. My plan covered just about everyting – as long as providers got the bills to them in a timely manner.
Jim

[Fran]

Jim,
Jim is 73, so he is on Medicare and the insurance is Medicare plus AARP, which is United Health Care. That is why we are paying $200.00 more. When he was on a HMO, we had to pay almost 1,000.00 per month for Vidaza and Oncologist. By the way we live in Phoenix, Arizona.
Fran

[Dennis]

I’ll be going to the City of Hope at Samaritan in Phoenix. Primarily a BMT center, but City of Hope in Califorinia is big with MDS.

[Fran]

Hi all beautiful, helpful people. Jim is starting on Vidaza on the 10th of November and I am really concerened. He had triple bypass surgery 2 years ago, but the dr said that his heart is pretty bad and they can’t do anything else for his heart. He is also diabetic. He is tired a lot and sleeps during the day but has a hard time sleeping at night. We are going to our Primary care dr. tomorrow but I don’t think he can do anything more for Jim. Since he is 73, they won’t do much to help him. We also need financial help, since we are living on SS only. We have a house and that is not paid for either…so are expenses just keep adding up.

Anyone have any idea, it would really be appreciated.
Thanks for having someone to talk to.
Fran

[patti]

Fran,

If your husband has a life insurance policy you can request 1/2 of it for expenses right now. I believe it takes a doctor’s letter stating what Jim’s prognosis is. I am not sure of the time limit requirement for getting 1/2 of the insurance. Some insurance companies it is 6 months prognosis and others it is 1 yr. It just depends on the company.

Hope this helps some.

Patti

[Jimbob]

I believe it actually depends upon the state – different insurance regulations. In Oregon, the prognosis, verified by an attending doctor, must be at least a 75% medical certainty that the patient is not likely to survive more than one year for individual policies and 5 months on group policies. I did receive 1/2 of my life benefits over 2 years ago but I am still here.
Jim

[Fran]

No life Insurance for either of us. We have been married only 11 years and thought we would live forever but who knew that this would happen. Jim had heart bypass surgery 2 years ago and was told that there is nothing else they can do for his heart. I had a Pacemaker put in this year.
I will keep you all informed on our finances as well as Jim’s progress after the 10th of November when he will start the Vidaza treatments.
Fran

[Sandy L]

Good luck Fran. I hope things get brighter for you and Jim. It is so unfair to have to deal with the financial issues as well as the disease.

[Fran]

Well, Jim had his blood test today. They took 7 pints of blood as well as 2 more for his primary care MD. He will be starting the Vidaza next thursday. The nurse said that he will be having the injuections every day for 7 days. The problem being that if he starts on Thursday, what happens over the weekend? Does anyone know how they do that. I am pretty nervious about what to expect. Like I said the only thing wrong with him now is that he is real tired and sleeps a lot. We are still hoping that the Oncologist excepts his medicare and Untied Health plan. We will find out next week.

Anyone that can help me, it will be appreciated.
Thanks
Fran

[sdrake]

Fran,

My dad takes his shots over the weekend. He takes his at our local hospital both weekends and week days. He has gotten along well with the Vidaza with his only real complaint being constipation. I hope Jim has as good of results as Dad has. My thoughts are with you both.

[Fran]

Sdrake: Thank you. I hope he will be ok with the Vidaza and like I said, he will know more when we see the Oncologist on the 10th. I hope all his blood test are good. How do we get a copy of his blood test?

[sdrake]

Fran,

My dad just asks for a copy each time he gets him blood work. His oncologist and nurses are always happy to give it to him although I don’t think they would if he didn’t ask. My mom keeps all his records in a big (getting bigger) file. It makes it easier to compare numbers from time to time. Take care and ask lots of questions.

[Jerry]

Fran,

All my doctors freely give me copies of my blood work. You actually “own” the results and they cannot keep it from you and I would be very surprised if they tried. Just ask them for a copy. Good luck.

Jerry

[Fran]

Hi again:
Jim had his blood test last week and the lab called us on Friday after they closed to tell Jim that he has to take one of his blood test over tomorrow. I wish I knew what that meant. He is suppose to start Vidaza this Thursday. I am planning to go with him and find out more information from the MD. We haven’t seen a copy of the blood test yet but will ask for one on Thursday.

Can anyone tell me what it means if they want to take the BT over again?
Thanks…Fran

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