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Mom met with Dr. Kane today and the results of the PetScan were pretty good.  Of course we would rather hear that things are shrinking or disappearing but things are staying the same.  There was no new disease, no spread of disease and the size and metabolic activity appeared comparative to the last scan.  So Mom is still just holding her own which is still great news!  We had been worried because she was having a new pain around the liver area so there was some concern that things may have been progressing.  But everything looks good so we can breathe a sigh of releif until the next scan.  In the mean time I am going to work on being more optimistic about future scans and try to expect good results! 

Mom will be starting the Xeloda pills this chemotherapy cycle so we are hoping they are less destructive to her blood counts.  We really want her to be able to get away from having to take Neulasta/Neumega shots EVERY day.  For one, they are very expensive (insurance luckily pays for them) but it’s just very tedious to have to go to the hospital every day to get a shot.  It also means she isn’t able to travel out of Colorado at all.  Previously she was not able to take the Xeloda because they fall under prescription benefits and our annual maximum for prescriptions is $5000 (Each 10-day prescription costs $1000).  However, we had Dr. Kane call Aetna ask for a pre-authorization to overide our prescription benefits.  She explained to them that they could possibly save the thousands of dollar$ that they pay for daily Neulasta/Neumega shots if they would be willing to pay for the Xeloda pills beyond on pharmacy benefits instead of intraveneous chemotherapy.  They agreed to pay for them!  Well, that’s what they said but I’ve learned to wait and see.  But I’m feeling hopeful!  Mom starts the pills this week so I hope her blood counts stay high and she doesn’t have to get the daily shots.  It will really make a difference to the quality of her life to be off of them.