2 Prayer Requests

Well, it's been a while since the last blog. Sorry for the delay. Until a few weeks ago it was due to the lack of news, and lately it's been due to laziness. Ummmmm.... laziness.... feels so good to just kick back and read when I should be writing on the blog...

Slow Growth
First, the news related to my most recent scan in early October. The scan showed no growth in the lung nodules (yeah!), but "slow" growth of the nodules in the abdomen -- especially a mass around the abdominal lymph nodes which increased by about 20% -- their definition of slow growth, although 20% over 2 months adds up. And this gets us to my first prayer request. I'm wondering how long I put up with "slow growth" and simply stay the course. My Dr. says this is great news and since I'm feeling so good (which I am), we should continue with the current therapy. However, part of me wonders if we shouldn't be trying something else. Problem being, the last time I went off drugs that were working, things went crazy (that's how I ended up w/ the tumors in the abdomen in the first place). I plan on calling NIH and seeing what the Drs there think.

Insurance Fight
In other news, I received a letter from my insurance company about 2 weeks ago which said that they were not going to pay for my primary therapy, Avastin. Not only that, but that the decision was retroactive back to early August. UVA Hospital found out about it when the insurance company refused to pay in August, but we didn't know what was up (frequently there is a long delay or initial denial of payment because of miss-codings on the bills, etc.). UVA appealed the decision in August and the appeal was denied, but still, we didn't know anything until receiving the letter. The end result is that, at the time we received the letter, we were about $50,000 to $60,000 in debt to UVA. I'm appealing the decision one more time (with some mroe supporting material); however, at this time I have no idea what will happen. When I told the insurance company that Avastin is what helped get me out of the hospital and that without it, there is a good chance of a return of the ascites and more visits to the hospital, they said it was irrelevant and that they needed scientific evidence that Avastin was good treatment for RCC.

In the mean time, I'm continuing treatment (on my own nickle) and plan on cashing in on my retirement account to pay for it if need be (I'm getting an infusion right now). To their credit, UVA is still treating me even though they haven't been paid for the Avastin treatments since August (they told us that they would hand it over to a collection agency if we didn't pay, but i'm not paying until the outcome of the appeal, and the insurance company says the appeal can take up to 60 days!). Anyway, I think the prayer request is obvious --- that the insurance company would change their mind and/or that I would find another treatment that is covered in some way that is as effective (or more so!).

Sorry the news isn't better. The good news is that (a) my Dr. is ready to fight... take it to the media, etc, and (b) I'm not discouraged. I had a dream that folks were ringing my doorbell and when I answered they tried to hand me a pile of cash. I turned it down saying, "not until I've exhausted my own resources." It was a great dream -- it reminded me that I can trust God to provide in unexpected ways. I'm hopeful. -d

UPDATE:
Just heard from the insurance company. They accepted the appeal and will pay for 12 cycles of treatment from this point forward. We're still negotiating payment for prior treatments, but I'm hopeful.