Mary came over yesterday at 6:30 in the morning to take me to Motol for my CT scan. Our first and last stop was the Foreigner’s [sic] Office, where I dropped the bomb (replete with crescendo whistle-sound, followed by large explosion sound effect) of my spanking new (as of Wednesday) state health insurance card. Kuba’s eyebrows went up past his hairline, his mouth agape.
“How the hell did you get this?” he asked.
“I have a good lawyer,” I said.
They all congratulated me and Mary and I went off to the CT scan scot-free (well not Mary really, who is of Scottish origin). We had to wait an hour, as I was supposed to drink a liter of contrast solution before the exam. The woman before me came out of the exam with four bandages, shrugging her shoulders, and saying, “I have bad veins.” I have terrible veins, especially after more than 300 holes put into them over the last four months and imagined that I would come out with at least ten misplaced injections.
The first injection turned out to be the charm, so I was relieved - I still hate needles even after all of this. They made three passes of my upper body (shoulders and chest, midriff and gut, abdomen and private bits) and I was on my way back to Kuba to pay the remaining CZK 126 left on my account, have a tear-jerking goodbye and make promises to see each other socially - he came to mikeFEST! after all.
I get the results at 1PM on Monday when I meet with my oncologist (and Mary again) back at Motol. This will decide (somehow) if I have another cycle of chemo (which I expect I will). I have a PET scan on Wednesday at Homolka, which will determine whether or not I’ve had any further metastasis. So it all comes down next week.
Now that I have insurance, I can spend more money on complimentary therapies, vitamins, crazy teas, faith healers, herbs and the like, not covered by the system. In between coverage (February 21st to May 14th), I’ve shelled out around CZK 50 000 ($3125) for my treatment, which included: three cycles of chemo, an MRI, blood tests, consultations and prescriptions. Not too bad, considering.
I’ll try to update the much-neglected mikeFEST! blog tomorrow and post my CT results and conclusions on Monday evening, depending how I feel. Until then, wish me luck...
“How the hell did you get this?” he asked.
“I have a good lawyer,” I said.
They all congratulated me and Mary and I went off to the CT scan scot-free (well not Mary really, who is of Scottish origin). We had to wait an hour, as I was supposed to drink a liter of contrast solution before the exam. The woman before me came out of the exam with four bandages, shrugging her shoulders, and saying, “I have bad veins.” I have terrible veins, especially after more than 300 holes put into them over the last four months and imagined that I would come out with at least ten misplaced injections.
The first injection turned out to be the charm, so I was relieved - I still hate needles even after all of this. They made three passes of my upper body (shoulders and chest, midriff and gut, abdomen and private bits) and I was on my way back to Kuba to pay the remaining CZK 126 left on my account, have a tear-jerking goodbye and make promises to see each other socially - he came to mikeFEST! after all.
I get the results at 1PM on Monday when I meet with my oncologist (and Mary again) back at Motol. This will decide (somehow) if I have another cycle of chemo (which I expect I will). I have a PET scan on Wednesday at Homolka, which will determine whether or not I’ve had any further metastasis. So it all comes down next week.
Now that I have insurance, I can spend more money on complimentary therapies, vitamins, crazy teas, faith healers, herbs and the like, not covered by the system. In between coverage (February 21st to May 14th), I’ve shelled out around CZK 50 000 ($3125) for my treatment, which included: three cycles of chemo, an MRI, blood tests, consultations and prescriptions. Not too bad, considering.
I’ll try to update the much-neglected mikeFEST! blog tomorrow and post my CT results and conclusions on Monday evening, depending how I feel. Until then, wish me luck...
6 comments:
Ahoy Jednatel,
Great news!I 'm so glad that you finally have that damned little plastic card. No more skimping on anti-nausea meds or haggling over price per chemo. The women in the Homolka billing department will probably miss the flowers and chocolates...
Jon
Майк, поздравляю, держишься молодцом! Все будет хорошо, это я тебе говорю. Целую нежно, твой Крокус.
great news on getting the insurance, you must indeed have an excellent lawyer.
Best of luck tomorrow, will be thinking of you.
una
btw: if those alternative types suggest cupping, take my advice and just say no no no.
Congrats on the health insurance! Am keeping my fingers crossed for the CT results!
V
Hey Bud,
I have been trying to call you off and on for days. Sorry we got cut off on the mountain! I am thinking about you as you go through this next battery of tests, and what must be an impossibly trying week.
Tom
mike makes great coffee. that's a plus at 6:30 a.m. we watched CNN and wondered if we'd ever actually hung out together at 6:30 in the morning before and decided it could only have been after staying up all night. we're neither of us morning people...
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