Insusrance

[Guest guest]

Dear Skip,

How nice to hear from someone who has been around as long as you. We want

to keep our eye on you, so it's good to know that even with all of your setbacks

and the doctors not knowing what to do with you, you have survived. Over and

over, you have won the race against CML. You have it, but it doesn't have you.

It is also good to know that you have had good insurance and medical team that

cared enough to lead you through your incredible journey. Kim, your wife, had a

lot to do with it and sometimes I think that while we let our care givers know

how much we appreciate them, we don't tell the world about what a spectacular

job they are doing in taking care of our needs. My Jimmy stays home with me all

of the time and when I have a doctor's appointment, he is dressed and ready to

go before I am and insists on driving me. I think he needs to belong to a

support group as a caregiver, they are special people because they are living

with this disease right alongide us. We spoke last night on Skype to a man in

L.A. who has a support group for his area. His wife has CML, but he is like my

Jimmy, he's always there for her. They have someone in their group who is a 19

year survivor and they think that is great, but they haven't met you!

When I meet a newcomer, I tell them about you and their eyes light up and I'm

sure it gives them hope. The sooner a newcomer gets a CML buddy to guide them

through the steps, the better, because as everyone can attest, it is indeed a

scary time. The doctors don't have time to walk you through, but just think of

all that a veteran survivor can do to boost someone's confidence that they will

stick around for a while.

I haven't heard from anyone else yet about their insurance. Just this week, I

had a prescription filled and was told that my insurance didn't cover it without

pre-approval of the doctor to call and him to fax them an explanation of why I

needed this drug. I emailed him and asked him and he wrote back that now nearly

all the insurance companies are asking for pre-approval letters and they just

don't have the time to fulfill all of them, so he asked that I call my insurance

company back and explain the situation to them. This is very frustrating to

think I will be doing this over and over again. Is this what it is coming to, I

ask myself? Planet Drugs in Canada, here I come again. Feedback on your

insurance welcome.

Carpe diem,

Lottie Duthu