This Machine Killed Cancer

Rebekah, here.

We’ve been quiet here for a bit. It’s been a non-stop tilt-o-whirl (in some cases, quite literally) ever since the TMKC benefit. Shayne got re-staged (PET scan + MRI) to check to see if chemo is working its magic. Good news is that there was a reduction in the size of the tumors in his brain, but not as much as Shayne’s oncologist had hoped. So Shayne is back in the hospital - going the full 7 rounds of Methotrexate. In two weeks he’ll be re-staged again to determine which strength of radiation they’ll recommend to ensure that all of the cancer is gone.

This is where it gets scary. The side effects of radiation are about the same as chemo at one end of the spectrum, but on the other (and thankfully, less common) end there’s potential for memory loss and brain damage. It’s a very small percentage, but one that got me scrambling for a second opinion.

Our oncologist got us a recommendation for a doctor in California, only to find out after a week of playing phone tag and sending off medical records that they are unable to accept new patients.

It had taken me about two weeks to find the first doctor and now we needed to find a another doctor in less than a two days in order for Shayne to been seen in the small window between when he stops chemo and starts radiation. That small window happens to be only a week before which we’d need to send all of Shayne’s medical records and get it approved by insurance, which brings us to today.

It turns out that our insurance, in fact, does not cover and will not cover any out-of-state procedures. They tell us this right after I find a 2nd doctor whose administrative assistant won’t give us an appointment until we prove that we have insurance. Chicken. Egg. Chicken. Egg.

So yes, we have insurance. Yes, I pay about a quarter of my take-home pay to covering insurance premiums. Yes, we’ve been covering their ridiculous hospital co-pays every other week. But, no, they won’t cover a regular, old office visit because it’s in a different state.

Confused? Me too.

I think I’m going to start writing a book called Caregiving for Dummies. Chapters will include “100 different ways to ask the same question to an insurance agent” “Cancer and the Socially Awkward” & a bookmark that doubles as a smiley face mask that you can wear when you go out in public.