Sylvia,it's people like us who make the medical care look pretty slack in our
country."No insurance" can mean "no life".I have been so fortunate in getting my
gleeved thanks to Novartis! They are so nice when they call to give me the
delivery date.Which will be this Tuesday.
Although I HAVE been told by two doctors that I need to see a
cardiologist...."but that would be terribly expensive"..."you need a bone
density test...but that's very expensive"...My specialists are SO good to me and
don't ask me to pay the entire bill at one time.I am able to pay monthly.But my
GP is with a clinic and the bill gets paid right then.My husband will be 73 in a
few days and still doesn't have Medicare part "B" because he continues to be
penalized for not going on at 65.He was an aero space engineer for Boeing and
had insurance through them with no deduction from his paycheck plus small co pay
at the doctor and prescriptions were small co pay.Then when he retired at 68 I
went to work because I had to have insurance and carried him because it was
still better because of prescriptions.He only took one synthroid per day but you
never know what can happen...I found out about the cml after my insurance came
after the 90 day probationary period.So when I lost my job Husband
went to sign up and was penalized for being late or something so confusing that
Medicare actually got an attorny for us to get it "fixed"..which they haven't
have as yet.BUT he will be covered in July!! Openheart surgery last April really
was a scare.All but one doctor wrote it off because they saw the evidence that
we have been trying to get Medicare for him.One doctor took off what Medicare
would have paid.SO in the long run there are people out there who will do their
best to help.I just pray I don't get any thing before Medicare is available for
me.We are not alone.There are millions of us and the new Ford layoff will put
out more in the "between the cracks" people.We will never get national health
because of greedy lawyers,doctors and insurance companies.People say national
health isn't all it's cracked up to be but our situation isn't always so great
either and we lay in hospital beds so stress about how we will pay the
bills.Husband told the hospital that he had no coverage
and EVERYONE said not to worry..getting well was his main concern.Yeah,right!
Then their bills started coming in.I actually went to some of the offices and
ended up crying out of frustration.But in the end most had hearts and took pity.
Good grief....did I have all that to say???
I don't have blood tests between doctor appointments.And don't know about the
fish test.

You said:
see him twice a year if there are no problems,
How do you know if you have a problem?
I read the paper that comes with my gleevec a couple of months ago and was
able to answer some of my own questions about how I feel.I have several of the
possible side effects.The nausea is really bad if I take the pill and not go
right to bed.That's the last thing I do before I lay down and always eat
something on my way to bed.The cramping ....BUT I AM ALIVE!!!!!!!!
I hope you will be able to get that part time job and get the insurance..On
the other hand you may be out 3,000 per month!! That is if you are still on
400mg.
Please take care,Sylvia!!
Freeda




Gleevec@yahoogroups.com wrote:
There is 1 message in this issue.

Topics in this digest:

1. Re: Digest Number 1140
From: Silvia Keidel


________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Message: 1
Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2006 19:25:23 -0800 (PST)
From: Silvia Keidel
Subject: Re: Digest Number 1140

Freeda,
my blood work so far turned out pretty good, no need to check more often. I am
doing good on the Gleevec with hardly any side effects, but that took me a
while.
I guess my body is now very used to the drug and I am also not as nauseated
anymore as I was before.

My onc wanted me to do a FISH test again, which looks at the chromosome a little
closer than the regular lab tests. I am still paying off on that test from 2004,
when I lost insurance and only Patient Aid covered a portion of that test.
Last year I skipped, and this year I might be able to get under my husband's
health insurance plan trough work if I manage to find a part-time job in order
to afford the extra payments. Of course Novartis will not supply me any longer
with Gleevec if I get insurance.

Since I lost coverage my onc decided that I will only see him twice a year if
there are no problems, and lab work every 3 month. Before that lab work was free
under my health insurance plan with a visit to the doc. Now the lab is covered
trough the Leukemia Society, but the visit is not.

Unfortunately I am not too knowledgeable about Medicare at all. I wish I knew
more to help you out. But maybe there is another good soul on the forum who can.

Best wishes,
Silvia


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________________________________________________________________________


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Gleevec@yahoogroups.com wrote: There is 1 message in this issue.

Topics in this digest:

1. Re: Digest Number 1140
From: Silvia Keidel


________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Message: 1
Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2006 19:25:23 -0800 (PST)
From: Silvia Keidel
Subject: Re: Digest Number 1140

Freeda,
my blood work so far turned out pretty good, no need to check more often. I am
doing good on the Gleevec with hardly any side effects, but that took me a
while.
I guess my body is now very used to the drug and I am also not as nauseated
anymore as I was before.

My onc wanted me to do a FISH test again, which looks at the chromosome a little
closer than the regular lab tests. I am still paying off on that test from 2004,
when I lost insurance and only Patient Aid covered a portion of that test.
Last year I skipped, and this year I might be able to get under my husband's
health insurance plan trough work if I manage to find a part-time job in order
to afford the extra payments. Of course Novartis will not supply me any longer
with Gleevec if I get insurance.

Since I lost coverage my onc decided that I will only see him twice a year if
there are no problems, and lab work every 3 month. Before that lab work was free
under my health insurance plan with a visit to the doc. Now the lab is covered
trough the Leukemia Society, but the visit is not.

Unfortunately I am not too knowledgeable about Medicare at all. I wish I knew
more to help you out. But maybe there is another good soul on the forum who can.

Best wishes,
Silvia


---------------------------------
Yahoo! Mail - Helps protect you from nasty viruses.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________


Thank you for being a Gleevec Discussion Group Member!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links




------------------------------------------------------------------------







Freeda

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