Lately, I've had some little things that are going my way, and as I stare at the big picture of the cancer and my treatments, I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the good things that have been going my way.
When I started my last chemo and changed my pain medications around, I got connected to Matthew, a social worker at the local teaching hospital. He was assigned to me as my social worker, and immediately got to work seeing how he could help me. We agreed that I had a good support system at home and that I'm still able to take care of myself, but when I told him how my company had treated me, by reducing my role and my income so dramatically, he said he thought he could help us out financially, even though we still make well above the median household income in VT.
The first thing he did was get us a $300 stipend from the hospital to help cover some unexpected prescription drug costs. That offset some costs we encountered when my pain medicine regime was changed so dramatically in September.
In addition, he applied to a local charity on our behalf - a charity that helps people to make ends meet by helping with a household bill - rent, fuel bill, car payment, etc. It took some paperwork, but that charity ended up paying our car payments for a month.
Another little perk was a free gas card to help offset our commuting costs. It was just one tank of gas, but every little bit helps.
In addition to working with charities, another social worker was assigned to work with my insurance company because my insurance company declined to pay for one of my pain medications. I paid $550 out of pocket because I was afraid I'd end up being readmitted to the hospital without the medication. The odd thing is that it turned out I was covered for this medication, as long as I used the brand name medication and I had a prior authorization. But, that first time, they sent me home with the generic medication and my insurance declined to pay for it. But, after a lengthy appeals process handled by the social worker, my insurance company relented and they have now refunded me the entire amount of the prescription.
So, lots of little financial things have been going my way. Yesterday was even better though. My assigned social worker sent me an email, asking if I was interested in a free week in a high end rental home in Stowe, VT. Apparently, the week had been donated to a cancer fund raiser, and the person that won the auction donated it back to the charity, to be used by a cancer patient. My social worker suggested that I would be the ideal recipient for the week in the house. So, we are now trying to find a time that the property is empty. It looks like it will be in April, which could mean some late season skiing at Stowe.
If you add this in to the two fundraisers that my gym has done for my wife and me, I feel like we have someone looking out for us. In reality, it's just friends and, in some cases, charities that are funded through the kindness of others, but it's nice to know that these resources are out there. I know that there will still be tougher days ahead, but for now, I am feeling blessed, a word that I rarely use any more.
One quick cancer note: I had a CT scan done yesterday here in VT. It will be sent to Sloan Kettering and the doctors there will make the final determination on my next treatment. It is likely to be proton beam therapy at ProCure in NJ. My insurance has approved this treatment, and it has the potential to reverse some of the symptoms that have gotten worse in the past few months. The other alternatives are chemo, which I've been doing, or surgery, which my surgeon seems reluctant to do right now. So, now I wait to hear from the docs at Sloan Kettering before I book my next treatment.
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