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03-29-2013, 07:09 AM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 646
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Re: Anyone else feels guilty about their med expense?
No guilt at all, just consider myself very lucky that I have good insurance coverage with my company. And that's not cheap!
Janis
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March, 2000: 48, Post menopausal (5 yrs HRT) Left breast, IDC 3mm/DCIS 1.6cm, ER+/PR-/Her2+++, mod differentiated, MIB low, lumpectomy, node neg via SNB, rads=33 Stage 1a
June, 2000: Tamox 4.5 years,Femara for 5 years (end in Jan. 2010)
Sept, 2012: 61, Via mamm, ultrasound, biopsy, right breast, 2.3cm tumor, ER+/PR-/Her2+++, poorly diff, KI67 60-70%
BRCA 1 and 2 negative
October, 2012: Bi Mast with tissue expanders, port placement
Final Path: IDC 2.8cm, DCIS, 1/4 sentinal nodes positive (@#$%). Stage IIB
Nov 29, 2012: Begin TCH/6x/every 3 wks, H for 1 year/every 3 weeks.
March 14, 2013: Finished chemo
April 9, 2013: Begin radiation 28x
May 22, 2013: Finished rads
June 1st, 2013: Started Aromasin for 5 yrs.
July 15, 2013: Switched to Letrozole (Femara). Probably for the rest of my life
October 16, 2013: Exchange surgery
October 31, 2013: Finished Herceptin
December 5, 2013: Port removed
Glad this year is over!
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03-29-2013, 07:20 AM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 403
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Re: Anyone else feels guilty about their med expense?
Thanks ladies. I do feel very fortunate that I have access to these medicines and good doctors. I would have never been able to afford it without insurance. I just wish they aren't so expensive.
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1/11 age 36 DX
ER/PR-, Her2 +
TCH*6, Herceptin
BMX with immediate recontruction 5/2011 Lattismus Flap- Dx stage 3c 10/23 nodes
9/11 Radiation
3/12 Local recurrence to skin stage IV
Whole body scan CLEAR
4/12 Tykerb & Xeolda Skin mets slowly regressing
8/12 PET & Brain CT Clear
5/13 Skin mets progressing
6/13 PET scan chestwall recurrence in contralateral anxillary,internal mammary and ipsilateral subpectoral nodes
6/13 kadcyla
10/13 whole body scan -clear NED. previously resolved skin rash gone but 3 new lesions. Biopsy confirmed for skin recurrence
11/13 to 02/14 tykerb & herceptin
02/14 add abraxane/gemzar, 2 weeks on 1 week off at reduced dose
05/14 whole body PET clear/ brain CT clear but skin mets are getting worse, ready for new chemo
05/14 navelbine perjeta herceptin
07/14 skin mets progressing red rash worse
08/14 wide local excision with diep flap to close wound. Final path shows 2 positive margins showing inflammatory carcinoma Going back to surgery in 2 weeks
09/01/14 resection- clear margins
3 weeks after 2nd surgery, a new nodular rash found near drain incision with 2 small red spots behind the chest wall biopsy on 10/1. Positive for breast cancer
Radiation 11/2014 with xeloda then weekly cisplatin
11/14 brain MRI clean
12/14 finished 33 radiations burnt and very painful. Bedridden for 1 week
12/14 t current Herceptin and perjeta only
02/15 rash on upper back right side skin mets radiation planned
02/15 staring electron radiation *35
Stopped at 30 due to severe skin burn, resumed 10 days later
05/15 red patches appeared in between previously radiated area, skin mets. Ct and brain Mri clear. Simulation planned, radiation to start after trip to Alaska.
05/24 new spot identified in scar line on previously radiated reconstructed breast- electron on both side chest wall area and scar line
07/15 multiple skin and lung recurrence begin halaven
11/15 cough much better but very tired on halaven and starting to see some new red skin blotches-suspicious
11/15 heading to China for immune therapy
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03-29-2013, 10:24 AM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Alaska
Posts: 2,018
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Re: Anyone else feels guilty about their med expense?
yanyan,
I share the feeling, although for the most part I am thankful to have the choice, as so many others on the planet do not. I did not turn down chemotherapy myself.
So to me there is a lot of responsibility involved in making choices about treatment.
When I talked with the onc I was referred to, one way in which I tried to be responsible in determining treatment was to request to participate in a relevant clinical trial, so that at least I might be helping to advance treatment options for all others as well as myself. I didn't know how to go about it, but mistakenly thought my oncologist would provide some guidance. At the time, I would have been eligible for one of the trials using trastuzumab for adjuvant treatment that was in progress. The oncologist did not let me know anything about the trials for HER2 positive patients, and by the time it was available, my onc felt there would be no benefit to me. In a way, given that I never had trastuzumab and have not recurred, I am thankful that the major cost of it was not "wasted" on me, because it and all the monitoring and testing that go with it are quite spendy.
I do think it is not very intelligent to apply expensive and sometimes damaging treatments to the patients who are at lowest risk when there is no way to know which ones benefit (especially when most get no benefit), and when there is no way to know for which patients the treatment may worsen the disease.
A.A.
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Dx 2002 age 51
bc for granny, aunt, cousin, sister, mother.
ER+/PR+/HER2+++, grade 3
IDC 1.9 cm, some DCIS, Stage 1, Grade 3
Lumpectomy, CAFx6 (no blood boosters), IMRT rads, 1 3/4 yr tamoxifen
Rads necrosis
BRCA 1 & 2 negative
Trials: Early detection OVCA; 2004 low-dose testosterone for bc survivors
Diet: Primarily vegetarian organic; metformin (no diabetes), vitamin D3
Exercise: 7 days a week, 1 hr/day
No trastuzumab, no taxane, no AI
NED
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