6th Treatment
Over the Labor Day weekend, I completed the information for the resolution proposal and sent it in to Congressman Paulsen office. I am anxious to get started on the legislative requirement for Healthcare providers to discuss the benefits of 3D mammograms with all patients. I also finished the website information so at least Demand 3D story is published and the “what a patient experiences” blog started. I have to focus on linking the website to Facebook and providing the much needed technical information on benefits of 3D mammograms and more. The T-shirts are in, so now I’m just waiting on the hats—to promote Demand 3D. I finished the multi-page questionnaire for the Mayo Genetic Clinical Trial and scheduled the blood draw appointment at the infusion center. Not a bad weekend for the Demand 3D cause. I am feeling relatively good so far with lots of exercise, eating right, and taking vitamins. The hair loss continues though.
My oncologist was fairly pleased with the improvement of my blood results (WBC was up 144%). It was a long session, but overall my treatment was non-eventful. The weekend was busy with work and exercise, so I didn’t work on the Demand 3D cause very much—there is always next week!
I received a medical billing summary statement in the mail and was shocked to see how much all of the medical procedures are costing. Just guess how much a lumpectomy, port surgery, consultations, and 5 infusion treatments of Taxcol/Herceptin are? $86,000 so far—that’s crazy. Fortunately, I have only been required to pay $600 in copay costs. And my Breast Cancer was caught early (stage 1A) with 3D Mammography. I can’t imagine the insurance costs for treating Stage II, III and IV Breast Cancer. Why wouldn’t insurance companies promote the latest technologies to detect Breast Cancer at early stages? I will be adding information to the Demand 3D website regarding 3D and MRI mammogram out of pocket costs and treatment costs for later stage Breast Cancers.
For the upcoming week, I need to stay focused on balancing work, exercise, rest, healthy eating and vitamins. I’m feeling much better after the 6th round of chemo. I didn’t have any nausea or fatigue on Monday and that’s a first. I’m officially half way through the chemotherapy treatments. Woohoo!!!!!