|
Grex > Health > #87: Sindi Keesan's Lymphoma Journal |  |
|
| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 480 responses total. |
twenex
|
|
response 340 of 480:
| 
Nov 27 01:44 UTC 2003 |
I didn't realise Agatha Christie lived long enough to see
nuclear weapons, certainly not to fear rebel terrorist
groups (not states) getting hold of them.
|
keesan
|
|
response 341 of 480:
|
Nov 27 03:30 UTC 2003 |
This group was supposedly trying to set the Americans against the Russians
(in 1951, McCarthy era) so that they could take over the world after both
sides lost. Agatha was still writing novels in 1973 and died in 1976. The
Baghdad novel was slightly autobiographical in that she really did go to
Baghdad and she also met and married an archeologist there, as did the
heroine. There was reference to avoiding charming and lovely men - her first
husband must have been both, and he fell in love with someone else after they
married and moved out. She wrote a 1973 Hercules Poirot novel in which the
main character is an elderly lady with a servant who writes murder mysteries
and is friends with Poirot and hates to give speeches.
The heroine of the Baghdad novel likes to invent stories about herself.
|
willcome
|
|
response 342 of 480:
|
Nov 27 07:38 UTC 2003 |
Whore's trying to take over the world, keesan?
|
keesan
|
|
response 343 of 480:
|
Nov 27 15:02 UTC 2003 |
As predicted, got swollen glands in my throat and a headache yesterday evening
but they went away overnight and with luck will not come back.
I want to thank whoever entered invisible-to-me responses in the last ten
items for treating this one seriously. I plan to post it at my site after
I am done with therapy for other patients to read. Which is why I continue
to discuss side effects even though it must be dull for grexers.
My tongue is working better than last cycle and I plan to enjoy our Chinese
Thanksgiving dinner today.
|
bruin
|
|
response 344 of 480:
|
Nov 28 13:30 UTC 2003 |
RE #340 Agatha Christie died in 1976.
|
davel
|
|
response 345 of 480:
|
Nov 28 18:00 UTC 2003 |
(I think certain people may be unclear on when nuclear weapons became an
issue, as well as on when Christie was writing.)
|
keesan
|
|
response 346 of 480:
|
Nov 28 21:48 UTC 2003 |
Today I got what is probably my fifth bill from U of M for Jim's routine blood
test done July 7 (he passed). First time I called and asked them to fix this
to 'preventive' so that the insurance would pay. They billed me again. Next
I asked them what happened and they said the doctor had to fax them the
correct code number for preventive. They billed me again. I had them talk
to the doctor's accounting person. They billed me again. I called the
doctor's office. She said not to call her again and the amount was supposed
to go towards insurance deductible. Our policy is such that routine exams are
exempted from the deductible (if billed properly). I had the insurance
company phone the doctor's office. I phoned the insurance company. They said
they had explained it all. I wonder who did what wrong this time. I will
have to wait until Monday to call U of M Billing and the insurance company.
I think it might be time to recommend to PPOM not to use this doctor. Three
separate billing problems already.
What really bothers me is that the accounting person refuses to accept
any responsibility and hangs up on me and says not to call again. The
insurance company is being rather helpful.
|
keesan
|
|
response 347 of 480:
|
Nov 30 16:39 UTC 2003 |
This is the time in the cycle when the side effects start to go away.
My legs are less wobbly, as oftoday my hands are much less numb.
This cycle the headache lasted only one evening instead of 3 days (cycles 3
and 4) or 6 days (cycle 2). My left hand only had a few twinges of pain
instead ofbeing swollenfor 3-7 days. The pain in my ribs due to pleural
effusion is less frequent and less severe. The laryngitis wasa bit better
but is worse again now.
Jim has been sick for 10 days now - muscle aches, very hoarse,says he feels
awful or terrible, sneezing, coughing... I sneezed a few times this week but
don't have his cold or flu. Amazing.
I have gained only 1 pound in 2 weeks because he does not feel like cooking
and I did not feel like standing on wobbly legs, or cutting with shaky hands
(which are also getting a bit better now). There is still no sign of any body
fat or increased muscle mass. I must have lost a lot of internal fat.
I am strong enough to sit putting linux on a computer for hours, but it still
hurts to sit.
We are getting Chinese food delivered daily or cooked here since Wednesday.
Jim ordered more sticky rice pudding with jujubes.
I may go for my first walk in a week today while the sun shines.
|
keesan
|
|
response 348 of 480:
|
Dec 1 17:32 UTC 2003 |
Today my voice is nearly normal and I can even sing. Jim also feels enough
over his flu that he volunteered to walk me.
First I need to make lots of phone calls about insurance.
|
keesan
|
|
response 349 of 480:
|
Dec 2 05:09 UTC 2003 |
I phoned U of M Billing and they put me on hold for a while to check why I
was being billed more than 20% of $138 and then told me the insurance company
was paying part of this and someone at U of M had 'posted' it wrong. Who?
'The poster'. I owed $43. This is actually 30%, meaning the insurance
company also made a mistake (it is 70% of amounts over the deductible but 80%
of preventive care up to $400 that they pay), however I decided to pay the
extra $15 since this had been going on since July, just to end it. I paid
by credit card over the phone. I will check my statement carefully.
My hands continue to feel a lot better and today we went out walking in the
cold and wind, and even took a shortcut through an area overgrown with trees
and a bit hilly. It still wears me out. But my legs no longer feel numb.
My feet don't feel anything but pressure. I am hungry again. My big chance
to gain 2 pounds this week to keep up my average. Jim feels like cooking
again. He is happy with the linux computer I am making him to use for photo
editing and browsing (five browsers). He is also happy that he was able to
break a piece out of his printer so that it would work with the same
cartridges as a friend's printer that he is doing refills for, and that lets
him test the refills. And use the friend's old cartridges for everyone.
|
davel
|
|
response 350 of 480:
|
Dec 2 17:06 UTC 2003 |
With Grace's arm we also, several times, just gave up & paid things. I think
that they dig in their heels knowing that many people will do that. I suspect
that it's not cost-effective in the end (for them), though. <sigh>
|
keesan
|
|
response 351 of 480:
|
Dec 2 18:28 UTC 2003 |
Today I seem to finally have whatever Jim still has. I am coughing and my
throat is sore. I emailed the nurse to ask if I should delay Monday
chemotherapy so as not to infect other people. Jim had muscle aches,
very hoarse throat, and exhaustion as well as the usual respiratory symptoms.
We have been putting off visiting mutual friends with our visitor until Jim
was better and now we are both sick. She continues to cook for us.
I will try peppermint tea to stop coughing.
|
keesan
|
|
response 352 of 480:
|
Dec 3 21:39 UTC 2003 |
My sore throat has passed but I am still coughing. I think this is not what
Jim has/had but something new.
Today U of M Billing phoned to say that my credit card number did not work.
Turns out they don't have a way to deal with debit cards over the phone. My
debit cards work fine for internet purchases. Also turns out that the $43
I tried to pay is not 30% of $138 but the discount off $182 to $138 and they
are still billing the full amount. I phoned the doctor and was told he
must have had some reason for billing this as non-preventive but he was not
going to talk to me and I was hung up on. I phoned the insurance company and
got the name of someone that the doctor' refused to talk to. I phoned ppom
and someone spent half an hour trying to help and phoned the doctor's office
and was told he 'exercised his professional judgment' in refusing to bill as
preventive a blood count and PSA that he had recommended to Jim because he
is male and over 50. If this is not a routine test, what is?
PPOM said I could send them a letter of complaint and they also gave me the
address to send an appeal to the insurance company to get them to pay this
even if it was billed wrong. I just wrote up 1.5 pages for each. I hope that
this doctor will be removed from the ppom list and that the insurance company
will take responsiblity for fixing the problem he has caused. The former
might help with the latter. If these were not routine tests they should not
have been done at all since we made it clear that we were there because the
insurance paid for routine tests.
I am getting tired of this but not tired enough to pay the full $138.
If the doctor refuses to cooperate, who is responsible for the problem?
|
gelinas
|
|
response 353 of 480:
|
Dec 3 22:23 UTC 2003 |
(Have you stopped using that doctor?)
|
klg
|
|
response 354 of 480:
|
Dec 4 02:08 UTC 2003 |
You may have covered this previously, but why are you receiving bills
for Jim's medical tests?
|
keesan
|
|
response 355 of 480:
|
Dec 4 02:37 UTC 2003 |
We went to this doctor just once. I pay Jim's expenses. He is taking care
of me.
Is there some virus going around that starts with three days of scratchy
throat and coughing so hard you almost throw up? I thought I had what Jim
used to have but it is acting differently. I would like to be able to predict
if it will be better by Monday. I started coughing Monday and thought I had
a strep throat last night (which stopped hurting so much by morning).
|
klg
|
|
response 356 of 480:
|
Dec 4 03:02 UTC 2003 |
You pay for his health insurance? Even so, wouldn't the deductible/co-
insurance be billed to the policyholder?
|
scott
|
|
response 357 of 480:
|
Dec 4 04:50 UTC 2003 |
Sounds a bit like that I had a few weeks ago... never did figure out if it
was a really nasty cold or the flu.
|
keesan
|
|
response 358 of 480:
|
Dec 4 14:00 UTC 2003 |
How long did the nasty cold last? Yes I pay for Jim's insurance and his
medical expenses as well.
|
scott
|
|
response 359 of 480:
|
Dec 4 14:18 UTC 2003 |
Not quite three weeks, I think.
|
gull
|
|
response 360 of 480:
|
Dec 4 16:15 UTC 2003 |
My strategy for a while now has been, whenever I feel unexpectedly
cruddy for no good reason, I take a day off work and sleep a lot. So
far I've been successful in avoiding getting truely sick this way.
|
slynne
|
|
response 361 of 480:
|
Dec 4 16:42 UTC 2003 |
I had a pretty nasty cold in October that lasted for the better part of
two weeks.
|
keesan
|
|
response 362 of 480:
|
Dec 4 19:06 UTC 2003 |
I hope this does not last three weeks as I cannot postpone therapy for two
weeks. Does it get somewhat better after the first week? So far it is just
four days of lots of coughing and scratchy throat, complicated by the
pharyngitis so at night I am wheezing trying to get enough air. Okay when
I am standing up. The week after chemo the pharyngitis is worse.
Scott and Slynne, do you recall how you felt after just one week?
|
scott
|
|
response 363 of 480:
|
Dec 4 19:12 UTC 2003 |
Mine doesn't sound exactly like yours. First couple days maybe I felt a
little lower energy, and then a sore throat started to show up. The night
that I knew I was sick I had a fever over 100, then normal the next day. Then
a milder fever that night, after which it settled down to a bad cold. Colds
do tend to throw off my internal temperature regulation, though. After some
unremembered amount of time I developed a really bad cough, which at times
seemed like I was about to pull a muscle. Eventually things tailed off, but
the cough stayed on for a few more weeks until I went to the doctor. That's
when I was on prednisone for a week, to reduce thoat inflamation.
|
slynne
|
|
response 364 of 480:
|
Dec 4 20:52 UTC 2003 |
After a week, I still had a cough but I felt well enough to go to work.
Mine started with lots of sneezing and a stuffed up nose. By the third
day, I had a slight fever and a cough. The cough is what lingered but
it went away around two weeks after the initial illness.
|