Transparency post: Bills + Gut Instinct

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I'm finding a few things interesting + worth noting as bills being to roll in:

  1. Any guesses how much the pharmacy medication costs upon checkout after the surgery? To help with the estimation, we received: Acetaminophen (Tylenol) 3 tablets every 6 hours for 14 days, Docusate (stool softener) 28 capsules total, Gabapentin (nerve blocker) 1/2 tablet every 8 hours for 14 days, Ibuprofen 1 tablet every 6 hours for 14 days, Ondansetron (for nausea/vomiting) 10 tablets total, OxyCodone 25 capsules total. Total cost answer at the very end of this post

  2. How frickin' long it can take sometimes for claims processing. Some are approved within days. Others are months. Got one today from the 10/22 visit with an Oncologist.

  3. Check your itemized bills! Early Dec. we received the bill for the Oncologist appointment/meeting and it's been paid. The statement today says I had a "routine venipuncture" with the Oncologist. The hell I did! All we did in that visit was talk. Zero blood was taken. The charge of $10 (my responsibility is $0.63) isn't worth arguing, however, I will be reviewing these statements more closely.

And speaking of that Oncologist...

Short story: Go with your gut! Always go with your gut!

Long story: When we were trying to decide between a lumpectomy and a mastectomy procedure, one piece of information given was about radiation and a newer type being used. For me, radiation would be required for a lumpectomy, but not with a mastectomy.

When I contacted the oncologist's office to get information on if St. Luke's had the newer "proton" radiation, I was told to call the radiation department directly. Radiation dept. wouldn't give me any information and instructed me to talk to my Oncologist. It must have been a bad day at the office, for when I got a call back from the Oncology nurse, she provided little information and said I needed to schedule an appointment for answers and they were booked until Dec. 10th (this was Nov. 12th). So began the tears of frustration and sadness that day.

But don't worry, later that day a nurse from Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at UIHC called and stayed on the phone with me as long as I needed answering questions and (bottom line) treating me like a person. It was then in that moment that I knew the U was the right place for me to go with the surgery and follow-up care.

And the Pharmacy bill totaled: $5.89. Yes. that's all! - WOW!