I thought I'd start a new thread for updates on my cancer treatments and whatever else is going on, since the bad news thread title is misleading now.
My last treatment went better than the previous two and my chest wound is still closed up, which is a good thing. My arm is getting slightly stronger and I hope to resume lifting dumbbells next week. I need to build up my strength again, because I am going back to Denmark in May and I am extremely pumped about that! I'd like to be able to schlepp my own checked bag and not have someone else lifting it for me.
It's going to be a fabulous trip, 6 weeks and a couple of days for me. My brother is going along as well as my friends Chipp and Rod. Chipp is staying close to 3 weeks and has not gone with me over there since 2006 so he is also very pumped to be going. It will be Rod's first trip and he will be there for 2 weeks. I will get to be a tour guide. Also, I am throwing a party in my favorite pub of all, the wonderful, ever-magnificent Irish House in Aalborg on May 7th. The owner and I are friends and he will give me a little discount. We'll have Irish stew and brews in the cellar and I hope to have around 25 family and friends there. I might bill it as the "Fu** Cancer Party." A few months back, I was not sure I'd ever be able to go over to Denmark again or if I'd even be alive, but the cancer hasn't gotten me yet. I'm doing a number on it, instead.
Some other cool things I plan to do when I am back in my ancestral lands include a wine tasting in a castle, touring another castle and the northernmost manor home in the country, and visiting Skagen, the top of Denmark, where you can stand on a little patch of beach and have one foot in one sea and one in another. They also have a brewpub up there I am wanting to check out. I will start and end my trip in Aalborg and spend 5 weeks in an apartment I rent that is very close to the beach. I can hardly wait for May 4th to roll around! [Reply]
Originally Posted by IA_Chiefs_fan:
If it comes down to either not going on your trip, or coming up with $330, please let me know. I'll see to it that, that doesn't keep you from your big trip.
Originally Posted by Meatloaf:
Ed, have you actually explained your trip situation to your insurance carrier? I cannot believe that they won't provide some option for you to ensure that you get your required meds. Have you talked to them directly? Have you appealed? Have you had your doctor call them?
Heck, I'm sure you're all over this thing and have MUCH more knowledge of this kind of thing than I do; but, man, surely this sort of situation can be remedied.
In any event, have a GREAT TRIP and please keep us posted as you meander throughout Europe......pics would help (especially of Miss LongLegs)!!!
Take care, and ENJOY.
The nurse told me that she requested a 90 count bottle of xarelto and metoprolol for me since I was going out of the country, but the insurance company wouldn't approve it. I could always pay for it myself, but it's 330 dollars for a 30 count bottle of just the xarelto. I went through a similar situation in January when I got the new insurance and they were slow to get on the ball and didn't know yet if the drugs were necessary. I had just been on them since march of the previous year, but I guess that isn't a factor in their decision making. I did get a free bottle of 10 from the KU Hospital pharmacy, thanks to a social worker there, but I had to drive up there to go it, and it's 35 miles each way.
I have not spoken with anyone at my insurance company, and I don't think they would want me to. I might not be very pleasant... [Reply]
Originally Posted by Buehler445:
I'd imagine it would be OK xarelto is. Blood thinner right? It's not like you are shipping narcotics.
Yes, it is a blood thinner. Someone told me it is the same stuff that is in mouse poison, but I am not going to buy some of that at the hardware store and see. [Reply]
Not the same stuff but does the same thing. I'll chip in if there's a paypal account to donate to so you can the $330 you need for a bottle. If you were in CO I'd help you work something out. [Reply]
Ed-just want to let you know that you should ask your insurance company for a vacation override for your Xarelto. This is something that happens all the time, and formerly working for a mail service pharmacy, I can't imagine that your carrier doesn't allow it (everyone allows vacation overrides, especially for people who have severe illnesses, like you).
Hope that helps. Call the number on the back of your prescription card, explain your situation, and make sure they're aware you have cancer and not receiving your Xarelto is life-threatening.
PM if you have questions. Happy to leverage my knowledge on your behalf.
Originally Posted by duncan_idaho:
Ed-just want to let you know that you should ask your insurance company for a vacation override for your Xarelto. This is something that happens all the time, and formerly working for a mail service pharmacy, I can't imagine that your carrier doesn't allow it (everyone allows vacation overrides, especially for people who have severe illnesses, like you).
Hope that helps. Call the number on the back of your prescription card, explain your situation, and make sure they're aware you have cancer and not receiving your Xarelto is life-threatening.
PM if you have questions. Happy to leverage my knowledge on your behalf.
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The nurse at the cancer center has spoken with the insurance company twice, and they are not going to give me extra despite being told I am going to be gone for 2 months. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Lonewolf Ed:
The nurse at the cancer center has spoken with the insurance company twice, and they are not going to give me extra despite being told I am going to be gone for 2 months.
Is it processing through a pharmacy? If that's the case, the pharmacy should be calling your pharmacy benefits manager and requesting the allowance.
It's possible BlueCross won't allow the vacation supply, but they're typically pretty lenient with non-controlled medications like Xarelto.
I'm sure the medical claim would say that they won't approve the claim, because they don't deal with that type of thing. It's handled through the pharmacy side. [Reply]
Originally Posted by duncan_idaho:
Is it processing through a pharmacy? If that's the case, the pharmacy should be calling your pharmacy benefits manager and requesting the allowance.
It's possible BlueCross won't allow the vacation supply, but they're typically pretty lenient with non-controlled medications like Xarelto.
I'm sure the medical claim would say that they won't approve the claim, because they don't deal with that type of thing. It's handled through the pharmacy side.
She called both the pharmacy and the insurance company. Bastards must want me to die! [Reply]
I am happy to report that my endurance is higher this week than last. There is a pine tree by the northwest corner of my house with a few branches hanging over a gutter downspout, and it was clogged. I carried a large metal ladder from the barn to the house, and unlike the previous week when I hauled a sack of concrete mix, I didn't have to stop, my heart was not pounding, and I was not sweating. I was breathing harder, but not out of breath. I cleared the spout, lopped off two branches that I could reach, and took the ladder back to the barn, all without taking a break or stopping. By Monday, I should be in even better condition. I hope so, because I am not quite done packing and my checked bag is getting pretty close to 50 lbs. I hope I don't go over and have to pay hundreds of dollars. But, being away for 2 months, I do have to bring more than usual. [Reply]