Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Course 9 (of 12) - no whammies!

I am about a half hour away from being done here today... and so far, no allergic reaction!  Hooray!  I had one tiny tickle in my throat about 1.5 hours in, but I coughed once, took a few deep breaths, and it passed.  It looks like this particular pre-med cocktail will work for the longer infusion period.  So happy.  I really don't want to deal with the whole de-sensitization thing.  I think at this point my oncologist would sooner just cut out the drug entirely than put me through it.

Hopefully, lack of allergic reaction also means a better treatment week experience.  I'm trying to stay super-hydrated to prevent any weird headache again and eat well to keep fatigue to a minimum.

And the Benadryl again did not put me to sleep, though I was a good bit drowsy for about 15 minutes right after they administered it.  That meant I got a full day of remote working in, and also started on the process to refinance our house (fun!).

I also got confirmation that Neulasta injections are wicked expensive!!!  That $20K is indeed just for that single injection.  I will have 5 injections in total, I believe, maybe 6 if they give me one after the last course.  That is INSANITY for a tiny amount of liquid pushed into my arm.  That said - my oncologist's assistant (who gave me this info) said the idea is if they can bolster my immune system with the injection, it could save me thousands more in hospital bills if I were to get an infection and needed additional treatment and supervision.  Fair point.  Still, wow.  I'd love to see a cost breakdown for that 20K.  More important though is making sure it's coded correctly so my insurance covers it!

1 comment:

  1. Yay for no whammies! Can't believe you worked through all this. You are my hero big sis!

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