I've spent the last several hours sleeping off the Demerol (given intravenously to ward off the side effects I've experienced from Herceptin. It works but makes me very, very stoned). I woke up feeling a little green around the gills, so this will likely be a short post.
Spending time over at Flippy's has got me thinking about how much harder my life would be if Canada did not have socialized medicine and I did not have good private health insurance. The tally, thus far for drugs to bolster my white blood cells (and thus keep me out of hospital) amounts so far to $26,000 (Can). I can't even begin to add the cost of the various and numerous other drugs I've taken, almost of all of which seem exorbitantly expensive (yesterday I picked up a gel to numb my the skin over my portacath, which has become very tender. A very small tube cost fifty bucks. I was told that this was never covered by private insurance. Mine did).
I can't imagine how I would have paid for chemotherapy, radiation, surgery or any other test or treatment (and I have lost count how many) I have needed if public health insurance didn't cover it. The thought is quite terrifying.
I am very lucky to be Canadian, middle class and a union member.
2 comments:
What side effects from herceptin? I have had three treatments so far and no side effects at all. Echocardiogram revealed perfectly working heart. No nausea, no fatigue -- zilch. Utterly different from FEC chemo.
I experienced extreme side-effects, which have stabilized - uncontrollable tremors, teeth chattering, very high fever, chills. The episodes would start during treatment and recur up to two days later (sending me to emergency twice). I now receive Herceptin over 90 minutes and have Demerol infused prior to treatment. That seems to work.
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