Another Day, Another Side Effect

Monday, a week after the prescription for Mr. Fixit’s nausea medication was sent to the pharmacy, the insurance company called and said that an override had been issued, and the prescription would be filled. I waited for the pharmacy to call. Nothing. I went by the pharmacy Tuesday to find out the status. No one had alerted the pharmacy about the override. They called the insurer, and we finally obtained the medicine late Tuesday afternoon.

When I called the doctor’s office to see if he could continue taking the OTC stuff, they advised against it. It’s a good thing that the override was in place.

Before Mr. Fixit began taking the cancer drug, the doctor warned him of several side effects, one of which is a rash. He told us what to do about it. Yesterday he noticed that he has a rash.

He has been taking this cancer drug since March 27, beginning with the strongest dosage allowed. At first, he had no side effects at all unless you want to count his sudden need for speed in the car. He then developed a bit of intestinal upset and a few weird aches and pains. That’s when the dosage was cut in half.

Then the nausea and intestinal upset worsened. Tiredness kick in big time. He was taking two or three naps a day. His hair is falling out, and his eyelashes have all but disappeared.

I just don’t know why after all this time these side effects are happening. It seems to me that they should have manifested when he was taking the maximum dose. Perhaps it’s simply the accumulation of the chemicals in his system.

Another Problem–What a Surprise!

Monday the doctor told us he was going to send a prescription to combat Mr. Fixit’s nausea to our pharmacy. We waited all day for a call telling us the prescription was ready. No call. Tuesday morning I went to the pharmacy to see if the order from the doctor had been received. It hadn’t been. I came home and called the doctor’s office. Of course, I had to talk to a machine instead of a person. No one called me back to acknowledge my call or to explain why the order hadn’t been sent.

Ben called and the receptionist said she would transfer his call to someone, and he said he wanted to speak with a real person, not someone’s voice mail. He found out they had sent in the order after my call.

We waited and waited and waited. I called the pharmacy in the afternoon. She said they had received the  order, but the insurance company wasn’t going to pay for it. I said, “How much is it?” I was planning to pay for it. After all, how much could a medicine to ease nausea be? Pepto and Kaopectate aren’t that expensive. She said, “$285.” After I rose from the floor and made a comment as to the exorbitant price, she said she would tell the doctor that the insurance had refused to pay. She said it is possible for the doctor to approach the insurance company to ask for reconsideration.

Here it is the next evening and Mr. Fixit still doesn’t have the medicine or even an indication of what is happening.

But the good news is his $5.00 bottle of Kaopectate is working fine. His nausea is almost totally gone. I have to find out if there is any conflict with any of his other meds, how much he can take daily, and how long he can take it.I’ll call again tomorrow and talk to the machine again. Maybe I’ll have an answer before our appointment in a month.

Good News!

Yesterday the doctor reviewed Mr. Fixit’s latest scan with us. The new was great! Some of the nodules have completely disappeared and the larger ones have decreased in size considerably.

The doctor said that only 20 per cent of patients taking this drug have results like this. He made an appointment for Mr. Fixit in a month, and said he needed another scan in four months. He even talked about that maybe after a year, we could discuss taking discontinuing the medication completely.

I thought the news would ease Mr. Fixit’s depression, but it doesn’t seem to have helped it much. He is still down when it’s just me with him. When other people are around or he talks with his family on the phone, he is his old self. The doctor said that he was going to send in a prescription to our pharmacy for the nausea, but something happened and we don’t have it yet. Maybe that has something to do with his bad mood, or maybe he’s sick and tired of me and bland food.

But what a load off my mind! I was so scared; I was running through scenarios that would allow me to skip this appointment. But that was just my little fantasy; I went and heard the wonderful news in person.

Side Effects

Mr. Fixit still isn’t feeling well. He is still having nausea and digestive problems. I think his depression is getting worse. He noticed that his hair is thinning, and I noticed that his eyelashes are disappearing. He’s lost more weight.

Tomorrow is his appointment to hear the results of the scan. I hope it’s good news.