Insurance Coverage

Insurance will not cover the clinical trial at MD Anderson. There's the out of network factor because it's out of state. There's also the fact that 'ObamaCare' doesn't cover clinical trials. Layne's a little stressed about what to do...how to make things work. He's always so good about figuring these things out. I think in the end we end up paying less for things that some other people might. Well, at least when there are possibilities and options to look into. For example, when he finally finished grad school we had gone years in student housing, had four kids, and all of the school expenses for him. I think we did a thousand dollar loan once (it might have been more than that). We were done paying for all of that not long after he graduated. We also were able to obtain a home with a good credit rating for both of us.

In the case of all the medical expenses lately, Layne's been great about keeping up with all of it. Asking about charges and figuring out the best way to work things like life insurance, health insurance, and how cost of living can all be worked out. 

I'm a little nervous about the whole budget thing when he's gone. I'm involved with what's going on - but, he's always been the one that has figured out the ins and outs. There are things he's worked out that I wouldn't even think of - much less know about how to go doing it.

The issue for the day is how to have the trial covered. Or, maybe we just look for another trial. Hmm. What to do. What to do.

Houston Trip

I dropped Layne off at the airport this morning. He's on his way to Houston for an evaluation/consultation. He'll be talking with the doctor there tomorrow and be back tomorrow evening. We'll have Rachel's first clogging class for the year, the boys will have Young Men (an added Tuesday event), and Layne will be coming in at the airport all around the same time. Should be fun. Life as usual I guess. I'm looking forward to hearing what happens with the clinical trial. It'll be nice to get a yay or a nay, so we can move forward either way. There sure is a lot of waiting when cancer is involved. (At least it seems like that for us.)

Anniversaries

Today at water aerobics, one of the gals mentioned that she was going to be celebrating her 46th anniversary tomorrow. She has a goal to make it to their 50th - thus, one of the reasons she was there exercising. We congratulated her and commended her for her goal.
I was happy for her - but, when she said the part about trying to be around for her 50th anniversary I thought of how chances are Layne and I won't even make it to our 20th. (I think my eyes might have been a little wet at that point...the salty kind - not the chlorine kind. Who gets choked up during water aerobics? Seriously. Who does that? I'm hoping the others didn't notice.:}) In November we'll mark our 18th. It would be a true miracle if he were to still be around a couple of years later. Maybe we'll need to do something cool to celebrate.

Pity Party

Life has been one thing after another around here. The house, the busy schedule, the responsibilities, the financial issues, the yard, the stuff we're supposed to be getting done but we're not...terminal illness...you name, we've experienced it. (Or, so we think at the moment.) And, we've been feeling a little sorry for ourselves for just a brief period. We'll try and get back to our regularly scheduled cheerful attitudes soon. Same time. Same station. Thanks for tuning in.

Colonoscopy Results

There was nothing found with colonoscopy. Layne didn't think that would be where the issue was...but, I guess now there's one thing checked off the list of possibilities. He thinks a CT scan would help. But, we're not sure when that will be scheduled. The idea behind getting the procedure done was to check for anywhere that there might be some internal bleeding. Apparently, that's the first box to check off when checking for reasons behind a low red blood cell count. (At least in this case.)
He seems to be getting more tired and weak. So, we'll see if we can get this figured out soon.

A Void

Layne is doing his liquid diet today for his procedure tomorrow. He didn't eat dinner with us tonight. It was a little odd. If he's home, we're used to all of us eating together. I felt a bit of a void while we were eating...something was missing. It also occurred to me that at some point in time five of us around the table would be the norm.

More Labs

There were more lab results today. There are still issues with the red blood cell count. The main issue is with the oxygen levels. He's to have a colonoscopy as soon as one can be scheduled. (He's not so thrilled.) It seems the conclusion could be internal bleeding and they would obviously want to catch that as soon as possible.

He's been told to not overdo things. That might not be too much a problem considering he's been more sedentary in the past week or so than usual. Although, we do have a family reunion that is mostly outdoors with an abundant amount of activities available. Maybe he and I will bring a book or two.:}