Scattered Thoughts . . .

A s I wait for my latest oncology test results, I've been doing some research about treatments and drugs that my oncologist has discussed with us in a recent visit.  I have to admit that I actually have been losing sleep over the direction my health is headed in recent years and this research isn't helping any.  If anything, I'm losing more sleep! My health has been so poor that the poor health makes it very difficult to sleep at times.  Most times, however, I can't keep my eyes open but, now, what I'm learning in my current research is keeping me up at night.   For the first five years or so that I've had this illness, I was very active in support groups and research.  I was actually a board member and had written a few lengthy papers for this national support group to help newly diagnosed patients.   In the beginning, this research helped me understand and come to terms with my future of surviving with this incurable illness.  Also, I was h...

It has been a rather lousy week so far, after a lousy few weeks, after a rather lousy year of lousy health.  Actually, I should go back a few weeks...  I spent the past three weeks trying to get a prescription refill for one of my most important drugs.  This drug has made the most positive impact on my health since procuring this insidious illness.  A few weeks ago, I got a call from the pharmacy looking to get approval to charge my card.  I thought that was a little odd so I asked why I was being asked this unusual question.  The customer service representative pulled up another screen and suddenly exclaimed, "Oh my!"  She then explained that my copay would be $8700 for my 90 day refill.   I sort of chuckled and informed her that even if she tried to charge my card, she would get nothing with a bill so far beyond what I have in the bank so, approval from me or not, they wouldn't be getting any money.   I went back and forth between...