Day 244 - Radiation #26: Breast Cancer Treatment

Not much to report today. Only that I have two more treatments. Oh yes, don't mind my ticker to the right. It's off by three days.

So what's your view... I was looking online at my insurance claims. Apparently OHSU billed my insurance for treatment the day that the LINAC machine was down and I didn't have treatment. Think I should say anything to anyone... or just let it ride? Let OHSU suck Cigna for its money? Thoughts? Heh heh heh...

Today's fact is interesting. Rebecca told me that her mother had breast cancer back in 1995. She had a lumpectomy, chemo and radiation. Fact #26: Radiation treatments have not changed in the past 17 years. She said that her mom had radiation on the tangents, which is what I am having. (I am also having supraclavicular radiation, which wasn't part of her treatment.) Our treatment does not differ to much. Interesting. There has not been any significant findings in radiation treatment.

Here are a few pictures of my "twins." I know that you all are probably wondering how big they have gotten. Enjoy! It was taken before radiation.

Day 192 - How much does a double mastectomy cost?

I really don't have too much to post today... rather, there's no agenda. I've got dinner all made. I made an easy bake lasagne... where one does NOT have to cook the noodles before hand. :) Simplicity is key. As of right now, the girls are quiet and playing in the living room, which is also called the playroom. The house is quiet and there's no crying, screaming or yelling. Kind of nice!

Oh, I thought up of an agenda or a subject for this post... how about... how much it costs for a mastectomy? I've got most of the bills for my bilateral mastectomy. The numbers are mind blowing. I am just happy that I don't have to pay a cent of it. So here goes...
Pre-op appointment for Dr. Naik - $341.00
Pre-op appoitment for Dr. Thaker - $254.00
Labs and x-rays before surgery - $1165.00
Radiologist to read the x-rays - $27.00
Pre-anesthesia work-up - $436.00
Dr. Naik for bilateral mastectomy - $9195.75
Pathology - $1140.00
Dr. Thakar for reconstruction - $6921.00
Tissue expanders - $1296.00
Anesthesia - $2281.50
That's a total of $23,057.55! And that total doesn't even include the hospital stay which was 3.5 days... but I am sure they are going to charge 4 days worth. I am hoping that each day they called Cigna to make sure I was covered.
Another interesting fact is that my PET/CT scan cost $8721.00. Normally (under my plan) a secondary scan is not covered. And at first my plan denied the secondary scan and sent me a pamphlet of why it wasn't covered. However, in the paperwork, it stated that a secondary scan can be done if surgery was not an option to figure out restaging following treatment. That was me all the way because some of my cancer was considered non-surgerical (supraclavicular node). So a secondary letter was sent to me stating that my PET/CT scan was covered. All the hoops that one needs to jump through. Makes your mind go numb.

Here's another break down:
January - $20,910.31
February - $29,072.41
March - $30,749.39
April - $24,831.75
May - $19,133.86

I have been billed approximately $147,160 since the start of this cancer thing (through June). Interesting, huh... how the bills just continue to add up. That would pay off a nice portion of my mortgage. Ha! Thank goodness, I don't have to pay that much. I would be bankrupt if I had to.

Well that's making my head spin.
Oh, here's the recipe to the easy lasagne:
1lb of ground beef
26oz of your favorite spaghetti sauce
15oz ricotta cheese
2cups shredded mozzerella cheese
9 UNCOOKED lasagne noodles
2/3 cup of water

Cook the meat until brown (season if you wish, but the sauce should have seasoning. Sometimes I add more garlic, parsley and oregano). Add 20oz of sauce to the meat and stir. Put a few spoonfuls down in a rectangular baking dish (7"x11") so it covers the bottom. Put 3 uncooked lasagne noodles on top. Spread half of the ricotta cheese on the noodles. Top with 3/4 cup of shredded cheese. Add half of meat sauce mixture. Repeat - 3 uncooked noodles, rest of ricotta cheese, 3/4 shredded cheese and rest of meat sauce. Layer once more with last 3 uncooked noodles. With remaining 6oz of sauce, pour over noodles. Add about 2/3 cup of water to the baking dish, carefully pouring on the side of the dish (not over the actual lasagne). Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake 375 for 45 minutes. Remove foil, add on last of the cheese and bake for 10 more minutes. Let stand about 5-10 minutes (so the lasagne won't fall apart). Cut and serve... Makes about 6 good portions.

Day 88 - I can't go out, I have to wash my hair

Tomorrow is the day that I go in for infusion #6. After that, I am 3/4 of the way through treatment. Hooray. Well... when I hit next Wednesday I will say that I am 3/4 of the way and I only have two more. I got a card from my Aunt Patti today... it really made me smile when she said that I will only have two more. I can remember when I was staring down the "barrel" and had eight! I can tell you that it has gone fast. I think that having kids and going to work nearly throughout the whole process has made everything go so much faster. I am so happy that May is next month and that will be the last of chemo-sucky.

As for the every day injections... I find out about them tomorrow. We'll see what my insurance covers and what the doctor says. I'll let you know when I find out more. I am not really worried about giving myself a shot every day. Honestly, it's the least of my worries and I have never really been afraid of needles after donating blood when I was 16. That needle was HUGE.

So I washed my "hair" the other day. Every 30 wears I should wash my wig. Well, I had been meaning to do so, but I kept forgetting. So I finally did it I think on Monday. I have special shampoo and leave in conditioner. Now I understand the excuse "I can't go out with you because I have to wash my hair" which I believe was a popular excuse in the 50s and 60s. The process you have to go through to wash the piece. Wasn't it in the 50s and 60s that ladies/girls had those "bump its" that they put in their hair to make their hair poofier in the back? After soaking the hair in the bowl, I had to rinse out the hair. After rinsing, I had to towel dry, do not wring. After that it was spray in the leave in conditioner and then dry overnight. After that I could comb/brush it. I did as instructed and I am pleased to say my hair is so shiny and soft now! I look marvelous!

Oh yes, tomorrow we also meet with the genetic counselor. I will get tested to see if I am a carrier of the cancer gene BRCA. If so it will help guide me with further treatment (surgery to take out my ovaries, test Amelia and Elaina, etc.). I will let you know more about the testing and what the outcomes could mean after we meet with them tomorrow afternoon.

I think that's about it. Until next time.

Oh yes, for dinner... prepared meal - Chicken Pot Pie. Wonderful!

And... here's a picture of me and Shellie at the last chemo-sucky treatment. Again, thanks for the visit Shellie!

Day 50

What a tough day! I was tired all day long... and it was a looong day.

Work at 430a. I sat out in the car before I went in to work dissolving the zofran on my tongue. The zofran tastes nasty. Then I was tired all day long. But I mustered through it all. For my lunch break I sat on the phone with my insurance company. First it was Cigna. I asked them how long of a wait do I need to have before I could have my neulasta shot. They told me it wasn't a medical thing, but a pharmacy thing. So I called Medco. That rep said it wasn't Medco because I was going into a doctor's office to get it injected. So then I had to go call Cigna back. By that time I was really frustrated because in order to talk to someone you have to go through the prompts. It's really frustrating when you can't just talk to someone and have to speak into a phone and the speech analytics aren't picking up your request. So I finally got to someone and I said if you can't help me get me your manager. I finally got my answer... there is no wait time. I made sure that she documented in my account that there is no wait time. The reason, the shot costs $6000!

So all day long I was tired and feeling a little bit nauseous. But nothing came up. I don't know if it's the medication that I am taking. I just don't know. But I am starting the new drug regimine. We will see how Sunday fares.

I had a doctors appointment for Elaina and then I went back into work to move all my stuff to my new desk (shift change) and then headed to the other doctor for my neulasta shot. By the time I got home at 445p, I was exhausted. So I took a nap on the couch. Got up for dinner, got the kids to bed, then fell asleep on the couch again. Now it's Saturday morning... and I am up. :)