(no subject)

[selenay]

It looks like it will probably be a couple of weeks before I start Humira because the various organisations who pay for it need to figure out who, er, pays for it and how much they each pay. Hopefully the end result will be me paying a $10 co-pay for each prescription because the full cost is $800 per shot and I don't have a spare $1600 per month (a shot every two weeks) to pay for this treatment.

Thankfully, I have a lovely nurse-cross-case-worker who is doing all the financial work for me so I just have to wait. There is financial assistance available for anything my drug plan or the provincial program won't pick up, so it should all be fine.

I sort of miss NHS prescription charges, even though we'd probably have to go through a few hoops to get me approved seeing as Humira is a new drug and NICE is taking its time about approving its use in ulcerative colitis. The good thing is that my poor response to corticosteriods and continued bleeding make a fine argument for why the drug is necessary.

I feel that Humira is probably cheaper than transfusions every few weeks, after all.


And so, I shall put that worry aside for a while and focus on happier things.

Like Doctor Who!

Which starts at Easter! Only four and a half weeks! Woo! I'm going to be vibrating with excitement by the time it starts.

Isn't it about time for tardis_bigbang to start? I've got an idea! And it's sort of actually plotted! With character sketches! So, you know, I want to get stuck in.

Also, I just finished a re-read of Pride and Prejudice for an online book thing (75 books in 2011 on LibraryThing - some of us are doing a complete Austen-athon this year) and it was even better than I remember it. Seriously, anyone wondering where to start with Jane Austen should start with P&P. It's pretty much a perfect book.

Comments

[netgirl-y2k.livejournal.com]

I hope all the financial jiggery-pokery gets worked out soon.

Yes, it's about big bang season, isn't it. What's your idea?

[fahrenheit-f430.livejournal.com]

$1600 a MONTH?! *faints*

[selenay]

You know how the Doctor mentioned something about the Orient Express in space right at the end of the last episode of S5? I'm planning to write it :-) There is a kidnap plot. And a murder plot. And a slightly psychic girl. And Rory and Amy being awesome. And a slightly terrifying teddy bear.

Best bit is that it shouldn't get Joss-ed seeing as the next time we see everyone appears to be long after that event.

He's going to Joss me, isn't he?

[selenay]

When I get sick, I get the expensive kind of sick :-)

And this is why I'm hoping that between my insurance, the provincial plan and financial assistance, I can get away with a $10 co-pay. Even a couple of hundred bucks a month would be tight, $1600 is more than half my take-home pay.

[evil_plotbunny]

Good luck with the medical thing.

I suspect that when tardis_bigbang rolls around this year, I might give it a pass, as I've already signed up for scifibigbang and trying to do both last year nearly killed me. This is subject to change depending on my insanity level and whether I end up with a second plot.

[netgirl-y2k.livejournal.com]

*cheers*

Oh, I approve massively of this idea. It sounds brilliant.

[fahrenheit-f430.livejournal.com]

You should never leave the house without an armed escort and security van - you are THAT expensively sick! At $800 per shot your right hand is going to be worth $16k, and that's only your fingers, it'll cost another $64k for the rest of your hand! :O If these are tiny, tiny shots - quadruple my calculations. O.o

I really hope they do. Really, really hope they do. *crosses her inexpensive fingers*

On the plus side, it IS in the hands of your insurance company, and there are alternate funding options. It's not in the hands of NICE, and the NHS's single-alternative funding option: go private. You'd never get it then.

[gmul.livejournal.com]

As it happens P & P came with the Kindle app on my work phone so I may yet get around to reading it. Reading books is the most useful thing I've found for it to do, since I rarely need it as an actual phone and it doesn't do email nearly as well as I'd like. I think I may soon have a decent excuse for an actual Kindle so that's all good. I've probably read more in the last month than the previous six because it's so easy.

Finance. It'll be fine, just you see.

[selenay]

Did I tell you about the bit where the first, loading dose is 4 shots? And then 2 shots two weeks later? Yup, I shall be putting $3200 of drugs into my body in one day and hoping that it works. Not intimidating all, really.

My mum saw my old English GP today. He expressed concern over how sick I was and commented that he's only seen two UC patients in his career. Wow, I'm rare. Also, Humira is sometimes prescribed on the NHS for UC but rarely and only in very severe cases.

Um, I feel special?

[selenay]

Heh, I shall reserve judgement and sign-ups are done with you not in them :-)

It may mean that I could be after you for beta-ing if you're not too busy at the time...

[selenay]

I am remaining positive about the finance stuff. After all, my specialist thinks this is the best option and is the guy writing my "why I get this medication" thingy. Therefore the financial bods will definitely see reason :-D

The Kindle really does make reading, particularly reading on the move, incredibly easy. My reading has actually increased since I got mine and I wasn't exactly a slacker in that department!

You should try P&P! It's definitely her most readable and it really isn't about romance - there's so much more to the story and I always seem to pick up on a different theme each time I read it.

[evil_plotbunny]

:)

I may be able to do this thing.

If you are so inclined, Tamora Pierce will be the toastmaster at next year's Lunacon.

[clairecnc.livejournal.com]

Good luck with the finance. Do you have appeals or any other forms of recourse in case things don't go your way? Will be thinking of you. Hugs. xx