Latest Battle

themis01
themis01 Member Posts: 167
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Well I am compelled to write about the latest battle in my mom's life of living with cancer...since you all out there are the only ones that can really relate. My mom is stage4 cc with mets to liver and abdominal area. She has been accepted as a Patient for the chemical heated wash of the abdomen while doing a liver surgery at the same time. The liver will either be resected, scraped, or zapped with radiofrequency. (to be determined during surgery). She is lucky enough to be treated by Dr. Paul Sugarbaker at Washington Hopsital Center.
Today her claim to insurance for the surgery was REJECTED!! Yes some "doctor" that works for the insurance company turned it down saying that her prognosis was too poor to do any further treatment!!! Like this guy knows ANYTHING about cancer. We go through 4 oncologist and finally find one to give my mom a fighting chance and the insurance blows her hopes in one letter. We have a chance at an appeal which I am working on now but just cannot believe someone is fighting for their life and this is the BS that the get back.
WHAT THE HELL! Don't worry we are not giving up but time is so important here since surgery is scheduled for July 20th. Thanks for listening...
Erika

Comments

  • kangatoo
    kangatoo Member Posts: 2,105 Member
    #2
    Hiya Erika........this all sucks!!! I can't believe the **** that your insurace companies over there throw at you all. I recently watched a film called John Q starring Denzel Washington that dealt with his son having terminal heart problems. The story was in a very similar light as your mum. The insurance company refused to pay for a heart transplant.....the boy was gunna die. I won't go into detail but he basically held the hospital and staff hostage until something was done. Ok....it was a movie but expressed the reality that many deal with and it just sucks to high heaven! We had the arms race.....space race..and a whole lot of things that should be second in priority to LIFE. Life should be sustained at ANY COST!
    Maybe, just maybe,, one day govt's and politicians will wake up to the fact that it MAY BE THEM needing special care........but then again they can afford better insurance. I wonder why they spite the hand that feeds them?
    All our love and prayers to you and your mum.
    huggs, kanga n Jen
  • CAMaura
    CAMaura Member Posts: 719 Member
    #3
    Wow, Erika,

    Thanks for posting. You are a strong person and it sounds like you will fight like hell on your mom's behalf. I am so glad that she has you close to her.
    Hang in there, keep working on it and "go to the mat". (It's a Tom Hanks comment.)

    Keep us posted. You might be able to call the hospital administration for some help. Or you may also be able to appeal the decision. You will find the way. Keep the Faith.

    Cheers,
    Maura
  • MoonDragon
    MoonDragon Member Posts: 183
    #4
    That's horrible!!! I'm so sorry! It just amazes me how they just take a living, breathing human being and turn them into nothing more than a request on a piece of paper. As long as your mother is willing to undergo the treatment, she sure as hell deserves a chance to have it. That insurance company just disgusts me! Hang in there and I'm glad you're not giving up!! Oh and hey, if you ever need any of us to write letters in protest, you can count me in!!
  • goldfinch
    goldfinch Member Posts: 735
    #5
    ARGHHHH!!!! Insurance companies!!!!
    I just saw a rerun of a CSI episode where a woman with colon cancer drove her car into a building (she thought it was her insurance co... it wasn't) because they would not make a decision about her treatment. In other words they didn't deny it, because then she could appeal it. This way they kept her in limbo while she was dying.
    Agian it's a TV show, not real, but unfortunately these stories are based on some reality.
    Keep up the fight!!!
    Mary
  • Btrcup
    Btrcup Member Posts: 286
    #6
    Oh Erika, I am so sorry to hear about your latest battle. Who the hell are they to determine who should get surgery and who shouldn't. I am so glad your mom is not giving up. You will be in my prayers.

    Linda (Baltimore)
  • tkd3g
    tkd3g Member Posts: 767
    #7
    MoonDragon said:

    That's horrible!!! I'm so sorry! It just amazes me how they just take a living, breathing human being and turn them into nothing more than a request on a piece of paper. As long as your mother is willing to undergo the treatment, she sure as hell deserves a chance to have it. That insurance company just disgusts me! Hang in there and I'm glad you're not giving up!! Oh and hey, if you ever need any of us to write letters in protest, you can count me in!!

    I'm with you MoonDragon. Anything we can do for you, let us know. Power in the masses!!!

    You and mom will be in my prayers.

    Makes me sick how this country treats people sometimes. I run into this often with my little girl who is disabled.

    Love to you,

    Barb
  • CAMaura
    CAMaura Member Posts: 719 Member
    #8
    How about calling the doc you like - Dr. Sugerbaker and working with him to bat for your mother's surgery?
    There is a door to be opened.
    Maura
  • themis01
    themis01 Member Posts: 167
    #9
    CAMaura said:

    How about calling the doc you like - Dr. Sugerbaker and working with him to bat for your mother's surgery?
    There is a door to be opened.
    Maura

    Maura,
    The oncologist and surgeons have both put in written requests and explanations regarding the surgery. Apparently this guy at the insurance company has decided to become a cancer specialist overnight and dispute the facts that he has been presented!! He has determined since my MOM's prognosis is so poor the surgery just isn't worth it!! Of course he has never me my MOM!! Another reason to fight this cancer is to send him her picture in 5 years with a big smile on her face!!
    Erika

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