[The Wisdom of a Distracted Mind] I Do Love My Readers...

Seriously. You guys are the best. And, well, I this comment sums up my angst pretty well:

Lakota Princess has left a new comment on your post "Update...":

Grrrrrrr.
Makes me want to hurt someone. Badly. Preferrably someone I can torture to give you what you need.
This is fucking ridiculous, Dan.
Sorry - humorous comment planned has been sucked down the empathetic anger drain.
Excuse me while i go track down a pharmaceutical rep, an insurance rep, and might as well throw in a doctor and kick the crap out of all of them.

Posted by Lakota Princess to The Wisdom of a Distracted Mind at January 2, 2008 9:18 PM

I'm going to say, that's pretty much how Ive felt every day for the past ten years. Unfortunately, dearest Lakota, knocking the empty heads together of those responsible is not really going to do anything. The heads are empty. It's not like they're capable of any grand epiphanies or anything.

Anyway, the thing is, I decided to pay, out of pocket, for one month (two measly injections) of Humira at a cost of about $1,500. I did some juggling, and I realized that I can't afford to let this go untreated since there are a lot of things that need to get done, and the pain has, quite simply, gotten to the point of being far more than I can bear. Plus, the permanent damage of untreated arthritis can be pretty damn crippling. And, while I put my doctor through the veritable wringer tomorrow as a result of this latest snapshot of her dessicated, and slowly failing medical mind, hopefully, I will find myself on some road to some relief. After all, she prescribed the Humira even though I stated, four times, that it wouldn't be covered, but a month of the 25mg Enbrel would (which in my mind would be better than nothing). Her thinking was that since Humira is only two shots and not four, ergo, Humira is cheaper than Enbrel and subsequently would be covered. In her world, it really didn't seem to matter one damn bit that Ihad actually spoken to my insurance folks who told me time and time again that it wasn't.

I believe my Rheumatologist is actually a robot. Either that, or she's one of those pod-people from outer space who took over the body of my doctor and is now finding itself horribly confused about making humans better.

So, I should be okay for a month... maybe. And, during this brief respite, I do plan to find a more affordable alternative (hopefully, it won't involve a gun). My guess is that I will inevitably wind up with the weekly 25mg shots which may or may not be all that effective which should be covered. And, I'm hoping that it takes less than a month to explain it to my doctor.

I may need a chalkboard.

Two shots of Humira a month at $1,500 is greater than four 25mg shots of Enbrel at $700 a month.

Both are effective medications Dan needs.

Now, when Dan leaves a train station in Milwaukee at 4:45 PM, and he's got a limit of $900 a month on medications, which medication should be prescribed to Dan?

Yes. It's rocket science, and it obviously involves some pretty heady math which is apparently beyond the comprehension of a freakin' doctor.

Oy!

-DP

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Posted By Dan to The Wisdom of a Distracted Mind at 1/02/2008 09:23:00 PM