The Cost of a Shot
 

Today i was told that if I am chosen for one of three trials I will be getting an injection called Avastin that costs (drum roll) 12,000 to 16,000 dollars a shot!!!!!!

The trial, natch, would pay for this shot. My question: what insurance company on the face of this earth would pay for something like that? My mind has been well and truly blown.

I predict the next Hollywood fashion is going to be Avastin Parties...

Looks like they are trying to make up the R&D costs in the trial.

It's made from the blood of a family of pygmies in Venezuala.

"The Cost of a Shot " by Brianna

I thought this was gonna be something about your regret over taking that last shot of Jägermeister, when you woke up the next day feeling like a Mac truck drove through your butthole and dumped a load of curdled buttermilk down the back of your throat. And then left before you woke up.

Stick to tequilla.

I'm sure some people around will tell you that you live in a free, capitalist society, and you have the choice not to take the shot.

Flint, that was a really funny post and I did laugh about it.

But, as I was laughing I was also saying to myself, "This Flint guy has a tinge of hostility towards you, Bri. I wonder why? Is it due to your love of anthropomorphization? Your experience with prison guards? Your perfectly priceless new pedicure?" and then I warned myself to give you wide berth and plenty of reasons to put the gun away. I wish you no ill will, Flinty. I wish you only peace, my brother. The peace of the woodland monkeys and the serenity of the newly comatose.

Because, somewhere, somehow, I decided that you were the kind of person who thinks the same things are funny as I do. And it's no fun taking potshots at somebody if they don't "get it" ... so it's your own fault, as evidenced by the fact that you laughed at my post.

Get it? "laughed at my post"

Ok. Good!

NOw, off to the MRI!

I'm late or I would';ve thought of something funny to post ;)

Have fun in the tube. Make 'em give you some valium.

i now want to tongue-kiss Flint.

But that's just me.

No, it's not just you.... Ducks does too :D

Heyyyy....I told you that in the confidence of....well.....gabbly.

won't the cost of the shot go down after it's in mass production?

He was there too, wasn't he? Anyway I agreed with you... and so did Jim I think...

agreed that ducks wants to tongue kiss flint? yes. ok. but your wording is a little ... misleading. for me at least.

I dont think he was there, but I think LJ mentioned rimming and Flint in the same sentence, which is different to the type of tonguing I was referring too...but I think I know which one Flint would prefer....

everybody's got a boner for Flinty i see that.

I'm. Too sexy for teh Cellar. Too sexy for teh Cellar.

Well, I have tongue-kissed Flint and I can tell you that you gals are missing out.

Avastin

RRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrr! it'll make ye bloody well talk like a pirate!

but won't cost ye a galleon full o' dubloons!

How many days of hospitalization is that equivalent to?

Rough comparison: C-section = 4 days of non-intensive hospitalization and a couple of routine procedures for two people = total of about $8,000.

So they might pay for it if they thought it would save you two weeks in the hospital per shot?

Or maybe not, as it's in conjunction with chemo. The drug company will probably lower the price if the results of the trials justify mass production.

Avastin is a drug that keeps blood vessels from growing, it starves the tumor so to speak. if a cancer cell broke off from the mass and went to my liver and tried to set up house there, the avastin would make sure that it couldn't truck any blood in and voila--the tumor dies. The shot is adjunct therapy to the chemo. They wouldn't put me in the hospital for it; i would just get that extra shot along with the chemo. The trial is to see how well a more aggressive approach is tolerated---they are basically using a stage IV protocol on stage 1,2, and 3 tumors.

As I'm new to Medicare, will they pay for my next Tetanus shot?

I don't if they'll pay for it or not...

For some reason, the title of this tread reminded me of this poem (which I thought was titled "The Cost of a Kiss."

Wayman in Love
By Tom Wayman


At last Wayman gets the girl into bed.
He is locked in one of those embraces
so passionate his left arm is asleep
when suddenly he is bumped in the back.
"Excuse me," a voice mutters, thick with German.
Wayman and the girl sit up astounded
As a furry gentleman in boots and a frock coat
Climbs in under the covers.

"My name is Doktor Marx," the intruder announces
settling his neck comfortably on the pillow.
"I am here to consider for you the cost of a kiss."
He pulls out a notepad. "Let us see now,
we have the price of the mattress, the room must be rented,
your time off work, groceries for two,
medical fees in case of accidents."

"Look," Wayman says, "couldn't we do this later?"
The philosopher sighs, and continues: "You are affected too, Miss.
If you are not working, you are going to resent
your dependent position. This will influence
I assure you, your most intimate moments."

"Doctor, please," Wayman says. "All we want is to be left alone."
But another beard, more nattily dressed, is also getting into the bed.
There is a shifting and heaving of bodies
as everyone wriggles out room for themselves.
"I want you to meet a friend from Vienna," Marx says. "This is Doktor Freud."

The newcomer straightens his glasses, peers at Wayman and the girl.
"I can see," he begins,"that you two have problems?"

Port is in. It seems that my subclavian vein is NOT where subclavian veins usually are---and I was stuck all over, rivulets of blood running down my neck and shoulders and, despite having one of those stupid fluffy blue hats on my head, blood all thru my hair! Yick! A forty min procedure turned into a two and a half hour one BUT! They finally got it in there, all sewn into place. My right clavicle, shoulder and breast are at once green, purple, blue, black, yellow and pomegrante-colored. They had a pressure bandage on it but I took it off this morning as was driving me crazy as wouldn't stay stuck on. Because of the difficulty, they had to intubate me (as opposed to twilight sleep) and they said, "It took a hell of a lot of medicine to get her to sleep,"---my receptors are all shot to hell. My own fault.

But the thing is in, the scarves are ordered, and I start taking poison Monday morning!!

Thank you, my virtual pals, for cheering me on. You are a wonderful autonomous collective! ;)

Multi-colored Women from Mars. Could be a good movie.

Oh Bri PLEASE get someone to take photos :)
(They don't have to show your face if you're shy.)

My family love a good bruise picture - Dad used to feel quite disappointed when Grandad demurred after one of his falls. I have a great picture of me in front of the Christmas tree one year, taken to show off my injuries (fell face down onto gravel - had to go to A&E to have a stone dug out of my forehead)

mmm...I'll see if my lil sis has a phone you can put pics on the computer with....it IS pretty spectacular. When I touch it it doesn't feel like my own skin but like a mannequin or something--Ewwww! all numbish and foreign. The one-sided swelling of my face is, as you can imagine, incredibly flattering but the large, perfectly circular insertion scar ON MY RIGHT JUGULAR LIKE A VAMPIRE WOULD MAKE ON YOU POST-BITE is the oddest thing about it all so far.

PS - vampires ARE the undead, right? If I recall The Lost Boys at all they can explode OR implode, or be struck thru the heart, like Jon Bon Jovi.

Oh, i have an awesome bruise picture. we should start a thread in the images forum.

good luck with it all, bri....

I get my first chemo at 10:00 this morning. Gulp. Sorry no pic of my MOST awesome bruise, but I've no digital camera and sis is in cincinnati, didn't see her as she was working all weekend.

So. I'm in arm 1A of the clinical trial which means I get the straight standard treatment--no extra drugs; I'm in the 'control' group I guess. At first I was disappointed but then i thought, 'well, hey---those extra drugs might turn people into werewolves or something!' AND the very real possibility of more drugs killing my already beat-up liver just that much faster.

I just spent 150.00 on scarves. I'm getting all my hair cut off thursday. i'll need all my ativan for that.

go girl! you'll do fine. and don't forget to post a pic with your new hairdo!

Hang in there lady you can do it!

It appears that the first noticeable side effect of my chemo is (ahem)

When you're sliding into home and your pants begin to foam: Diarrhea! Diarrhea!

When you're sliding into first and your pants are gonna burst: Diarrhea! Diarrhea!

Go shopping for brown pants. Camo patterns work well. I've heard.

Hang in there, sending bogroll......:bogroll: :bogroll: :bogroll:

They really ought to warn you about that, if it happens often.
I salute your sense of humour about it!

ok, now I want to know what happens at second and third.

Google led to this (I'm sure you'll be pleased to learn that the 4th hit for my search string was this thread....):

When you're sliding into first
And your pants begin to burst
That's diarrhea, diarrhea

When you're sliding into two
And your pants are filled with goo
That's diarrhea, diarrhea

When you're sliding into third
And you feel a greasy turd
That's diarrhea, diarrhea

When you're sliding into home
And your pants are filled with foam
That's diarrhea, diarrhea

when you're headed for the bench
and you're followed by a stench
That's diarrhea, diarrhea

Think of the weight loss side effects, Bri!

Today is a baaaad day. I had chemo monday and then yesterday got a neulasta shot (to prevent my WBC's from crashing) and a side effect of the shot is that your long bones--esp. legs, hips, sacrum, all ache, ache, ache as they are being stimulated to make WBC.

This cancer thing is probably going to be a way bigger pain in the ass than I am ready for. dammmmmit! it's my favorite time of the year, too.

And, I feel lonely.

I'll quit bitchin now.

sigh

Damn, Bri. I'm sorry.

It's OK to come here to bitch and moan.

It's damn hard Bri, but you have online love and support, and I'm sure you have it in real life too. I'd take 24 hours of your pain if I could, but as they haven't worked out how to do that yet I'll just echo Glatt and say you bitch and moan as much as you want.

And yes, Mum does include you in her prayers (as does Irish Breda, and there's nothing like an Irish Catholic for a powerful prayer).

does the song have a tune?

You deserve to bitch and moan, Bri.

The cancer wont be a bigger pain in the arse than you are ready for, because you ARE ready for it and we are all ready for it and we are gonna beat this fucker :)

I've been feeling lonely too. I am not sure why.

BUT know how it feels to be in a situation where you think nobody can understand. Not really understand because after the well wishing people go on to their own homes there you are with the reality of it to wrap your mind around. I wish I could hug someone enough to let them know how much I appreciate love and human kindness. I wish I could hug you so you could have something warm and real to wrap your mind around. To give you peace. I wish I could do that.

~ take care ~

thank you, sky. You're a sweetheart.

everyone says, "Oh, chemo. Yeah, I felt bad/tired for two days after and then I felt OK until my next dose..." well.

I have felt like complete shit for the entire week---i am getting taxotere (spelling?) and then a neulasta shot (for WBC) the next day and I was so wiped out I couldn't even READ. I could only LISTEN (not watch) TV! I felt like SHIT rolled into a joint and smoked! I still kinda do. yesterday i had a fever of 100 (only call doc when fever is making teeth chatter or 100.5) and my bones ACHE.

I so hate this.

I'm gonna ask if I can just get a fucking mastectomy and skip the fucking fuck chemo. it SUX.

sorry. i had to vent.

I was just about to put you in the APB thread coz I was thinking about you and was wondering if you were going ok.

That said......I dont know what to say Bri....I have nothing...sorry. I wish I was one of those peoples that knows the right thing to say that makes someone smile when they need too....but I dont.

But I AM thinking of you and sending positive vibes your way, with lots of "you can do it!!" attached.