Another roadblock; but moving forward again?

I did not start treatment this week as we had hoped, but I am scheduled to begin next week. The drugs I will be getting are not standard drugs that are “in stock” at chemo infusion suites, doctor’s offices or hospitals. They have to be specially ordered. They also require special authorization from the insurance company. (Can’t wait to see the price tag on these?!) This has created a delay while an infusion center or hospital was located that would administer my drugs and all the paperwork was completed. The nurse I am dealing with at the doctor’s office is so nice to work with and has been very helpful.

Another phone call to Stanford tomorrow to clarify a couple of things and contact with the local hospital to set up my appointment and, hopefully, treatment will begin next Monday or Tuesday.

Now the challenge will be to stay in treatment. My white blood counts are already quite low from the spread of the cancer and they have to be at a certain level to receive treatment. Chemo will further reduce their numbers. My numbers have been borderline or below the accepted level for most of the past 5 months.

Our health insurance company has a free service available for patients with difficult cases in which they provide a nurse advocate. We were very happy to be contacted and hear about the availability of this service after all that we’ve had to deal with on our own. We will be meeting with her on Friday.

Thank you for your prayers. Steve and I are beginning to pull out of the slump we’ve been in for several weeks.