Hubby had 4th erbitux today

Jan Trinks
Jan Trinks Member Posts: 477
edited March 2014 in Head and Neck Cancer #1
Hi all:

Basketcase wife checking in here. Charlie had his 4th of 7 erbitux treatments today. He didn't get taxotere today because his mouth and lips are broken out and doc wanted him to have a week with the magic mouthwash to heal it up. But, his blood counts are still pretty good, rbc was in normal range, wbc and platlets down a little but that's to be expected. But the lump on his back is all but gone! Praise the Lord! Doc said, "that's pretty dramatic", and was smiling when he said it! Thanks for all your prayers and continued ones. Fortunately, he hasn't had much problem with the rash so far. He's got a little breaking out here and there but we are armed and ready with the drugs if and when it shows up. Oh, and speaking of that our onc. told us from the beginning that for some reason the rash seems to be a regional thing seen in the southeast from about Nashville, TN to Charleston, SC and down; that it's seen a lot in that region. Weird, huh? Also, looks like we'll be able to get ins. through his work after all; a little more than we thought about $800/mo but that's $152/mo. cheaper than I can get it if I did cobra. So every little bit helps. Hope everyone's week is going well and God Bless!

Jan and Charlie

Comments

  • RushFan
    RushFan Member Posts: 224
    Good news
    Hi Jan,
    Sorry your husband has to go through this, but it sounds like all is going relatively well.

    It's very good news about the insurance. My wife is doing an unbelievable job keeping track of all my insurance issues...and the one thing that we have learned from others is to make certain all doctor's, facilities etc. are IN NETWORK. She is contantly on line verifying everything. I work for a very small company and we are taking a beating with the co-pays and deductibles, but my employer may re-imberse us for a big chunk. He has been great.

    My initial pathology was performed by the Mayo Clinic because the local path was stumped. Mayo is out of network. Wow, what a bill just for analysing slides of my removed lymph node. Initial charge was $1780, my wife negotiated down to $1050. Sadly, M.D. Anderson would have diagnosed from the start, but I had not been there yet.

    Best to you and Charlie (Great name BTW)
    Chuck (RushFan)