We were thrown another curveball today when the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance folks called to say they couldn't get authorization to start the typing process with Gump and Tyler's blood because the insurance company would not pay for it. Apparently Fred Hutchinson and the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance are not "preferred providers" for Tyler's insurance plan.
We're scrambling to find out what our options are because we need to get this process going as soon as we can. The surgery was quoted in the $300,000 - 400,000 range, so it would be steep for us to cover without insurance assistance. Please wish us luck as we navigate the world of insurance and charitable foundations and whatever other financial worlds we need to investigate.
After Friday's bone marrow results told us that Tyler's leukemia is getting out of control, we are anxious to get moving towards a more long term cure. They've upped Tyler's Sprycel dosage to 110mg per day and added Hydrea to the mix to bring his too high White Blood cell count back down into normal ranges. His Monday blood test showed that everything had stayed about the same over the weekend, which was okay for now. We're hoping for a better mix of numbers on Thursday at the next blood test.
Tyler is commuting to the doctor's office from Sequim this week to get daily IV's of antibiotics. It takes about 30 minutes for his IV, but the commute is lovely and the company is great over in Sequim, so it's probably still worth it.
It's been one heck of a July for us and we are both looking for some good news pretty quickly here. Thanks for the great response in posting comments here to let us know you are thinking of us, for joining the NMDP to see if your marrow or stem cells could help someone like us, for praying for Tyler's health. We feel very loved this week!!
Here's hoping I have better news for my next post...
Mandy
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Another curveball
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Mandy and Tyler,
ReplyDeleteMike and I are both so sorry that you guys are going through this. You are both amazing people and I know you are going to come through this together. Mandy, what an incredible wife you are! Your positve attitude, strength and love is an inspiration to us all. As Mike and I went my health problems, I always noticed how it somehow brought us even closer together. Tyler, you continue to do what you need to do to fight this. You two WILL get through this. We are all here for you. Please let us know what you need. I am sending you positive thoughts and love. Here's hoping you have a better day today!
Love you both!
-Cynthia
That's just not right! I can't believe you're running into this obstacle now. I'll open my eyes and ears to the insurance world and let you know if I hear of anything creative. If we can help out getting Tyler and Gump matched to get started, let us know. Then we can get creative and work on fundraisers and the like. Hans and I are meeting this afternoon to get typed and registered ourselves. We love you guys and think about you every day!
ReplyDelete~ Cynthia