Correction...

On an earlier post, I informed you of the cost of a chemo treatment. $20.000.00 Well I looked at the bill and noticed it is actually $20.700.00. Maybe you are asking yourself, “Why is he quibbling over $700.00?” Read on it gets better.

When I go back on Wednesday to have the pump removed I receive a shot. 1 {one} shot. It stimulates the bone marrow to produce more white blood cells. I figured the cost was included in the chemo price. Well, good people, I was wrong  The cost of 1 {one} shot is $6.700.00 bringing the total cost of  a chemo treatment to $27,700.00. I take two treatments a month...you do the math.

Pardon me for the heavy breathing and scraping sounds you hear, as that’s me climbing upon my soap box. I realize these price are what the doctor charges, not what the insurance companies pay. They still pay a very high price. These prices are outrageous. No way can the average person pay this. Twelve treatments would be over $300.000.00. I am blessed to have insurance through the county I work for. My question is, "What do people do who have no insurance?" In my case, it would be go home and die. 

With all the advances we have in medicine I cannot believe it costs that much to produce a chemo treatment. On TV, I see all the suffering, people out of work, homes being foreclosed, parents who have no means to provide Christmas their kids, older people who must decide between medicine or food. And yet corporate America is not dropping any prices. Profits keep rolling in to the companies. And we the people keep paying the price.

Enough venting. What you have no control over you should not worry about. I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future. MERRY CHRISTMAS to each of you. May GOD bless you as richly as HE has blessed me.

Wayne

Another Chemo Treatment

       I am back in Carrollton for another treatment. I am now able to call the nurses by name. I recognize people who are on the same schedule as I am. We can share highs and lows with people who understand what is happening to us. I equate it to a visit to a funeral home. When someone expresses condolences with “I Understand” or “ I know how you feel”. No, you do not. I pray to GOD that you are never here.

Today, we started out with book work and vital signs , followed closely by “co-pay”. Speaking of pay, any idea what a chemo treatment costs? I will tell you at the end of this installment…make sure you are sitting down.

The nurses, as usual, did a splendid job in taking care of the patients. One nurse was off for the day so the nursing supervisor was working the floor. On a regular basis, they come by checking machines, changing drip bags. We got a little extra special treatment today because the brutal cold kept some patients away from their appointments. They brought coffee, drinks, cookies and had time to share personal info. That made the morning more tolerable.

The sharing of info might have had to do with me asking questions. I am a terrible flirt. My wife tolerates it. As a teenager, my daughter was horrified when I did it.

One thing I have become aware of is cancer does not care who it effects. I have talked to a retired university professor {cancer retired him}, a bank vice president, and the mother of a student I subbed for at Temple Elementary School. So, male, female, black, white, old, young…Cancer is an equal opportunity crippler.

I am very blessed because I have suffered none of the terrible side effects of chemo. For the next day or two I will be very tired, no energy. By GOD’S grace this will pass. You have to take the good out of each day and enjoy it.

 I came to the realization that I can sit in the house and mope around, feeling sorry for myself and let the tail wag the dog… OR I can be the dog and wag the tail. Proctor & Gamble, where I worked for almost two decades, beat into us: Lead, Follow, or Get the h*** out the way. “Let’s go’

Praise and glory to God.

OK, I hope you are sitting down. We received the doctors bill. 1 “one” chemo treatment cost $20,000.00. Have a blessed day.