Tamoxifen or Not Tamoxifen

"To be or not to be" in case you missed my reference above. Ok, so you probably all got it.

I go tomorrow to see my oncologist. I'm set to get a script for tamoxifen. It's for five years. After five years, it's no longer effective. I'm going to ask about alternatives. I'm not liking what I see on the net about it. Jay reminded me that the people with problems are the most vocal. That's true but usually there's some truth to be found in there anyway. I went headlong into taking Lupron when I had the endometriosis in 1999 before I had any info. That wasn't a good drug to take. But I also had a lousy doc at the time. I definitely know I have a better one now. I also want to know what happens if I don't take it. Percentages I guess. Although percentages aren't the whole story. I also need to ask about long term side effects from the chemo & radiation I had. I know most of them but want a refresher.

My days are filled with taking Aaron to school and picking him up. Nate walks or rides his bike. Doing laundry and trying to plan dinner. I'm tired just thinking about it. But really, we are doing normal things. I am grateful.

Insurance update

Apparently, the audit was done today and we do not owe that daily co-pay. Only three claims of the many since Aug. 1 (some days had multiple claims), weren't changed. I don't know which ones but it should be available on their site next week for me to check. I now feel a little bit more encouraged, but I'll believe it when I see it.



I made the Chocolate Stout Cake from the Barrington Brewery in Great Barrington, MA for Jay's birthday. Here's the link: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/107105 It was pretty easy once I figured out the many bowls it says to use. I cut the recipe in half and used two 9" pans with 1 1/2" sides. Great chocolate cake.

Insurance woes

The insurance stuff going on that I mentioned earlier has our new insurance insisting that I pay a $50 co-pay daily for 29 radiation treatments. Stop gasping, that's what it'll cost me to see a specialist from now on. That co-pay doesn't go towards the deductible nor to our out-of-pocket costs. It's just money that flies out of our pockets on top of our monthly premium. However, we were told that we wouldn't have that co-pay in July, RMCC pulled info off of the insurance site that indicated we wouldn't have a co-pay, and the summary we have indicates that there would be "no charge" in a physician's office. As of yesterday, the insurance company will be auditing all of the claims because they found a mistake in their system. Yet I'm not encouraged. I'll know when they give us an answer within two weeks.

Pink Celebration

Here I am as a daughter of the King. I know I also look like a princess.

Front: Carolyn, Nancy, Gwen Back: Kristen, Tina, Wendy, Laverne, Carol, Nadine, Addison (baby), Mandi, Kathy & Karen

Gwen with Karen's son, Brandon, and Karen. This was our salad buffet with Kathy's Mom's pink glass dishes. It says on the upright plate: God is Faithful.

Kathy from my Newcomer's group wanted to celebrate my accomplishment of completing chemotherapy and radiation, to acknowledge the end of this part of treatment. My oncology-radiologist asked me more than once, "How are you going to celebrate?" I'm thinking, "Celebrate what?" I've had very mixed feelings about it. I thought this time in between completing radiation and seeing the oncologist (Oct. 18) would be good for getting back to normal. And it has. Yet I'm reticent about celebrating. There's more to come. I'm on the lifetime plan. I haven't quite put this phase in it's place. And then I remember that God holds the plan. He's not going to tell me all of it all at once. He is faithful. He even reminds people to pray. Especially Kathy, in the middle of the night. I'd bet there's more of you that He wakes up. He won't forget.

It is so wonderful to celebrate with women who have been there with me through all of this. I don't say this to offend those of you in Massachusetts who couldn't be here with me. I have needed your prayers most of all. God knows why He did it this way. We don't, but it will eventually be revealed. One reason I had to come to Denver to do this was because Jay doesn't travel anymore. Another reason I had to come to Denver was because our insurance was better. That first insurance plan got me through the largest part of my initial treatment. Now this second plan that Jay's company chose leaves a lot to be desired. The good news is that we only had to deal with it for my radiation treatments. Still don't have any real answers from them or even the actual policy. That's right, we don't have the actual policy, just a summary and just an overview. This plan went into effect Aug. 1. They've inundated us with paper so we might get lost in it and not really know how they manage the plan. We meet with a rep on Tuesday so we'll see if they have some answers. It's not about them not paying, it's about how they have processed the claims. And then they even process two claims differently even though they were for the same thing, but a different day. No rhyme, no reason.

Back to the celebration--Kathy decorated so nicely. I did feel special. Once I got over the initial surprise and my initial tears, I could enjoy our time together. Thank you for making me feel loved and for just being there to celebrate with me.

The Walk

We went to the K-9 walk for the cure. It was really too much. Too many dogs, too many people. But we did meet some interesting dogs. Lots of the small dogs had on their pink fluffy coats. After that, we went to play in the park with River & Hailey.

We walked through the booths. One was for imaging services (mammograms, bone scans, CT's, etc.) The woman asks me, "Have you had your mammogram this year?" Moment of hesitation, "Um, I have breast cancer so I've had lots of them." Longer moment of silence, I then thanked her for asking and told her to keep asking. Lesson to me, don't be quite so pushy when I ask women about it. At this point, I realize it isn't just the mammos that women skip, it's their whole healthcare plan--skipping annual exams at the GYN, skipping the dentist. I wonder what the stats are on that.

Top Docs in Denver

My oncologist has been named on 5280's Top Doc List. The annual list is compiled by Denver's 5280 Magazine (http://www.5280.com/issues/2007/0710/index.php ). Eight RMCC (Rocky Mouintain Cancer Center) physicians were recognized by their peers as among the Denver metro area’s best including my doctor, Dev Paul, DO, PhD.
Here he is: http://www.coloradocancercenters.com/doctors_detail_tmpl.cfm?categoryid=1&pagename=4&doctorid=63

How cool is that?

K-9's for the Cure on Oct. 6

Taurus is walking for the Cure! Go to http://www.komendenver.org/site/TR/Race/General?px=1420005&pg=personal&fr_id=1050&et=s87MAgMra0YacEGj5u7L4g..&s_tafId=10992 to see my page and to make a donation. Please go back and see it again. I guess I forgot to save my changes the first time around and only had the standard stuff on it. If you saw the orchid type color, that's the one I made. I sent it to some of you but not to all. I've already met my fund raising goal of $100 and actually have already received a total of $200! Thanks!