Thanks for the well-wishes guys, and thanks for the sundry bits of advice.
First, to answer Bill's question, yes! A hot tub and spa does feel quite nice, and it does a great job of softening up these aches and pains. However, the relief is very temporary, at best. In fact, usually within about an hour, I'm back to my achy self.
Then again, if I had my own hot tub and an endless supply of margaritas (Reason #101 on why Dan needs a wife), I'd probably spend 24 hours a day in the thing until I was all prune-y.
Still... Hot tubs are nice.... very,
very nice.
Cinzano? I spent a lot of time on hold. Some phones were still playing Christmas music. Others were playing the sort of bland wallpaper music that you'd find in a hotel lounge in Peoria.
I swear, if I ever have a company that puts people's phone calls on hold, I'm going to play an alternating sequence of speed metal and Bob Marley.
Anyway, the medication I
need, as prescribed is 50mg of Enbrel twice a week. Unfortunately, the stuff comes in a box of four pre-measured injections, and the price ranges from $1,300 to $1,400. So, every two weeks, that's what I'd be paying --a minimum of $2,600 a month.
Now, that's freakin' insane!
And, even the girl I spoke to at Enbrel had the audacity to apologize to me about the price when I brought up that they have actually priced it out of reach of most Americans, and considering that cost, most insurance providers would drop a patient like a hot potato considering that this is a chronic, incurable disease which could lead one hell of a tab over the course of one's lifetime with this ick. So, in other words, they are actually doing more harm than good.
Still... At least she apologized, I guess.
On the other hand (and this seems to be the potential way I will inevitably wind up going), they offer a box of four 25mg injections for the paltry, bargain-basement price of $650 to $700.
Now, this could lead to potential insanity since my insurance seems to have stated to
me that they are willing to pay $900 per month; however, they told the folks at Enbrel that they are willing to pay $900 per
week.
If what they said to me is true, I'm fucked like a slow moving sheep in a town full of hillfolk.
However, if what they said to them is true, well... I'll be making weekly trips to the pharmacy, and sticking myself like some sort of Haitian voodoo doll, but at least I'll have the stuff I need to keep me from French kissing a speeding locomotive just to stop the pain for a while.
So, nonetheless, I'm waiting for calls to be
returned. I find this is where most troubles are started since most people are like me. I'm terrible at returning calls. But, hopefully, I've racked up enough Karma points over the past 39 years to maybe find myself dealing with people who are not like myself.
Aside from that, though, I was reading the news this morning, and I came across this:
White patents receive better pain management than blacks and Hispanics
CHICAGO - Black and Hispanic patients in acute pain are likely to receive less potent pain killers when they visit emergency departments in hospitals as compared to their white counterparts, a large US study has revealed. (Full story)
I must be the exception to that sort of ridiculously unfair form of medical racism. I think people,
all people should be treated equally regardless of the race, and if this study holds up to scrutiny, this is yet another solid testimonial for the dire need of health care reform in America.
It's frustrating, isn't it?
I mean, here we are in the 21st Century, and it's clear America has regressed far more than it's progressed, and it's as though we're living in those shitty days of the 1950's where women were nothing more than appliances, religion had a solid grasp upon society --contrary to the instructions of the Constitution, and the threat of Communism made people comically paranoid and terrified.
We've gone backwards as a result of these so-called "Conservative values" which have utterly crippled this nation with morals built more upon individual greed and corruption, than what is in the best interests of our nation and her citizens.
Even today, in 2008, there are whimpers and cries for women to return to their "traditional" roles, and we now have immigrants who are treated more like pernicious foreign invaders than people simply looking for a better opportunity to have a good life in a nation which once promised such opportunities.
Well, just found out from my insurance gits, and apparently, what they told me was true, and what they told the folks at Enbrel was, well... proof of their on stupidity.
Fortunately, I didn't bother to get my hopes up since I learned long ago that is a very bad idea if one is battling this disease and looking for treatment. Either your insurance company will dump you like a bad habit once they realize you've got a chronic, incurable and wildly expensive disease, or the medication is priced so far out of control that it's unattainable. So, holding onto hope is a liability.
So, I suppose my options at the moment are to try and see if the 25mg shots once a week are enough to actually make some bit of difference (yeah. I doubt it too, but who knows?). Or, perhaps I can get my doctors to give me a shitload of narcotics and anti-depressants until either this hopelessly fucked American health-care system is fixed or the price of Enbrel comes down to a more sensible amount. Both seem pretty far off to me, I guess.
Then again, I could write to my Senator, hire a lawyer, and see if I have a case. The way I see it, I'm being forced in the exact opposite direction I need to be going, and it's also contrary to what the health care industry
should be doing. My life is literally being made
unlivable, and, well... perhaps it's time I take steps to start treating this as a need to protect myself. And, what the hell? If I can sue the hospital, pharmaceutical companies, and the insurance provider to the point where I wind up with enough cash in my pocket to afford this medication, I'll be happy. After all, it is not a fucking luxury item like a new pair of tits for Pam Anderson. It's a god damned need.
Oh well... I guess I'll just keep muddling along.
-DP
Ah well... the quest continues. But, right now, I am baked on a hell of a lot of meds right now just to make this typing thing possible. But, I wanted to keep those of you who have offered helpful suggestions in the proverbial loop. It means a lot that you care, and thank you all for that.
--
Posted By Dan to
The Wisdom of a Distracted Mind at 1/02/2008 11:24:00 AM
