Cancer Update – Part 28

6 July 2023

One step forward…. Diarrhea hit this morning at 4:30 am and continued until 8:30. Back on Lomotil and Imodium. Sigh!

I was supposed to go over to Michel and Nancy’s tonight and go to a Greek restaurant they’ve found and enjoyed but I’m not venturing too far from the toilet for a while.

Holy Cross has an app called My Chart. They notify you when anything needs to be attended to such as check in for your surgery. What actually happens is numerous people at HC make entries and you are bombarded in your email you have something to do on My Chart. Most of the time, it’s answering the same questions you’ve already answered three or four times before.

There was a new message this morning that I had an estimate for the cost of the procedure (mastectomy). My mastectomy is only going to cost $146,512.14. They kindly point out that this is entirely reasonable by telling you the low end of the spectrum for this procedure nationwide is $112,607 and the high end is $212.830.

They also let me know that my echocardiogram (an ultrasound of the heart) was only $4797 of which I may have to pay $106.94 if my secondary insurance doesn’t pony up. Dr. Velez says I’ll need an echocardiogram every three weeks for a year.

All I can say is I’m glad I have Medicare – which pays 100% for a mastectomy – and supplemental insurance to cover the echocardiograms. I can’t imagine getting sick in this day and time without health insurance.

I’m still waiting for Dr. Velez’ nurse to contact me about my early question. I was confused as to exactly how many infusions of Herceptin and Taxol I would be getting and how many of just Herceptin. In his written summary he said 9 weeks of Herceptin and Taxol and then just Herceptin for the remainder of 52 weeks.

The real question is he talking weeks or sessions. Infusion sessions occur every 3 weeks. So my question is the 9 weeks of Herceptin and Taxol – is that 3 sessions or 9 weekly infusions? I already know he means 12 sessions to finish the year of just Herceptin because he told me that directly. I can only hope the 9 weeks is just 3 infusions. It would be nice to know this and prep accordingly. The reason I think it might actually mean 9 infusions is he is going to give me lower dosages of Taxol because high doses lead to – you guessed it – diarrhea. He plans on giving me 80 mg/liter instead of the normal 240 mg/liter.

Brother Archie sent me a photo today of Dad on September 16, 1993. His neighbors Jerry and Lyla took him fishing. It was his 80th birthday.

Seeing him with that hat reminds me of the time he and Archie were down here and we searched for a hat large enough to fit his head. There’s a western store in Davie, Florida called Griff’s and it’s like a super Walmart of western goods. He couldn’t find one. He eventually had to special order one.

Stay tuned!