February 21, 2009 11:55 PM 96 days to go

A quiet day. Just marking time until Monday when we have to hit the clinic again.

Still no sign of any problems. But it is still early for some things to happen so we're not out of the woods yet.

A woman came by from our "new" home care company in order to get a baseline on me and to get some forms filled out. It seems that the insurance company will cover the cost of my home supplies and any possible home care that I will need with a different company for the bone marrow transplant recovery phase than for the chemo phase. Why we need a different company I don't know, but it certainly is not worth my paying the first company out of my pocket for any care that I might need. As it turns out, I'll probably never need to avail myself of their services as my wife flushes my catheter every day and they change the dressing for at Dana-Farber once a week.

The Hickman catheter is literally my lifeline as everything is infused and drawn through it without the need to stick me all the time. The nurses love it and so do I!

That is one thing that you find out through this whole experience - the health insurance company controls everything! This last 8 day visit that I just completed did not have to be 8 days. All the preparation for the transplant could have been done on an outpatient basis. But, the hospital said, the insurance doesn't know how to handle that - so they admit me so that I will be covered. No wonder health care costs are so high - such a waste!

Other than my venting at my health insurance company, I feel fine. This really makes it hard for me in some ways because I feel that I could be doing more than simply hanging around the house. But, I certainly do not want to rock the boat - so I'll abide by the doctors wishes and curtail my activities. I'm not complaining, mind you. I am just relaying my feelings at this point.

On to Sunday and, as I said before, I miss being able to go to church.

But everything in its time...

Bob


Bob