Lung Nodules

[Guest guest]

,

I've had RA 18 years, been on MTX for 15 and Humira for 2. I lead a fairly

normal life. 3 years ago, after a long bout with a cold and bronchitis and

coughing lots and lots, my dr had a chest xray taken and they saw a right lung

nodule. They also knew that it was " new " and hadn't been there a couple years

before. I was sent to a pulmonary doctor who gave me 2 choices: 1 was a needle

biopsy of the lung (has several side effects like bleeding, collapsed lung &

others). Second option was a bronchospy (tube down throat into lungs, while

sedated, so they could withdraw cells and fluid to be biopsied and cultured,

looking for infections, fungus conditions and malignant cells. I was 62 then,

non-smoker. The dr thought the 2nd option was " easiest " but told me that I must

have a needle biopsy if the bronchoscopy produced any suspicious or malignant

cells.

For the bronchospy they started an IV and put a sedative in it. The next thing

I was aware of, the bronchoscopy was over. So the procedure itself was pretty

simple. It took 3-4 wks for them to " grow out " everything they wanted to and

there was no evidence of malignancy or further infection. The diagnosis was a

" rheumatoid nodule " and they then ordered a CT scan of my lung every four months

for the next 2 years for the purpose of checking if the nodule grew or did

anything " suspicious. " They did the prescribed CT scans and I'm still walking

around with the same nodule, which is causing me no problem at all. The

pulmonary dr also told me that RA is a mult-system disorder and the lungs are

frequently " attacked " after you have it for a long time. He advised me to keep

taking Humira, if I can tolerate it, because it stops the RA " dead in its

tracks, " so that further complications don't take place. I feel like a normal

person on this drug....it's truly

remarkable. Only problem is that it costs $2,000/month for the

every-other-week injection. Now I just started on medicare and am on a Medicare

Part D provider. They have you pay about $5,000 and then they take over the

cost, except for 5% of all drugs. CVS just told me that I am nearly through the

" gap " where you pay the full price of your drugs.

It's hugely ridiculous, in my opinion, that the government doesn't negotiate

drug prices for their medicare patients that are discounted. They let the big

pharmas get away with murder and then reduce their payments to the doctors so

much it's pathetic.

Joy