No insurance, husband refusing treatment

17 years 5 months ago #1724 by rugrat1956
Replied by rugrat1956 on topic No insurance, husband refusing treatment
Is there any way to get your husband on disability? It would be worth a try. What about contacting a lawyer to put pressure on his work place since it is high risk for bladder cancer?

elaine f.
dob- 1956
female- Indiana, USA
caucasian
smoked cigarettes- 1975-?
5cm-noninvasive- low grade- papillary
TURB- Sept 11,2006

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

17 years 6 months ago #1447 by rentanag
Replied by rentanag on topic No insurance, husband refusing treatment
Chris,

Here's the location for the Deep Breathing instructions if you're interested, you'll find them under the "Superficial" section from the HOME page.  Once you enter that section you will find the post about 3/4's of the way down the first page, and it's titled "Living with BC", the post is by Whitlo.  Once you enter that topic the message with the instructions is #9 on that first page, I was wrong about it being #8.  My brain is totally gone these days.

Lou

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

17 years 6 months ago #1446 by rentanag
Replied by rentanag on topic No insurance, husband refusing treatment
Chris and others,

I have mentioned previously a couple books that I've found helpful in the process of dealing with my cancer, some I've found more recently and I try to suggest the ones I think could be useful to others. Probably the first book I purchased after learning I had bc, and it's titled CANCER 50 ESSENTIAL THINGS TO DO, by Greg Anderson.  It's written by a man who was given one month to live because of metastisizing lung cancer, but instead of giving in to the doctors prognosis he started looking for people who had been given the same prognosis and what they did to keep themselves alive.  It's easy to read as you don't necessarily have to read start to finish, just what looks interesting at any particular time. There's another book and its title is THE GUIDE TO LIVING WITH BLADDER CANCER by Mark P. Schoenberg, M.D., along with others from the Johns Hopkins Genitourinary Oncology Group.  This book is written so the average patient can understand any particular diagnosis of bc better and read about the options there are for treatment, and it could also help someone put into words a particular question they need an answer to that might not be found in the book.  The more knowledge one has the better it is for you and your doctor/surgeon/oncologist, it puts you closer to a level playing field in terms of understanding.
There is another thing I've shared with many on this site, and that's the use of deep breathing as a reliever of stress and additionally it helps your immune system to work better (according to Drs. Mehmet Oz and Michael Roizen in their book YOU -- THE OWNER'S MANUAL).  If you're interested in learning the specific technique they describe from their book, I've included it in a previous post of mine and you can find it under the topic "  "  and it's the 8th post under a subject by Whitlo.  I'll be coming back and giving you the exact location after I post this message, as at the moment I can't remember where it is exactly.  
I hope some of this information I share with you today may be of some help while you're dealing with your husbands current situation, he's possibly still in the anger/denial mode and it might take some time to move further into accepting this and hopefully wanting to fight it.  I do hope he'll listen to you when you give him some of the information myself and others have shared with you, and I hope he'll realize it's not time to give up, instead it's time to get moving.
Those prayers keep being sent up for you from many of us here on this site, and others you both know personally I'm sure as well.  God Bless.

Lou Graham

Ps.  I think I remember you mentioning your husband being a very physical person, and I just wanted to write that I've heard of others returning to very physical lifestyles.  There's always the possibility that through this experience he might find an entirely new focus in his life, and it might actually be better than what he's doing now.  You never know until you try, but you do have to try.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

17 years 6 months ago #1445 by vervidj
Replied by vervidj on topic No insurance, husband refusing treatment
please listen to the Doctor. At 52 in Jan. 2005 I had blood in my urine and was referred to my urologist, and doing the IVP to find three tumors. If they were put side by side would have measured approx 10 cm. across. After finding this I was in surgury to remove these and biopsy sent in to determine how deep the tumors were. They were into the wall, but could not determine if there was muscle tissue from the lab report. In 2005 I had a cystoscope to find another tumor which was probably located behind ones found in the IVP. The tumor was approx 1 cm. which was taken care of in office.
BCG treatments were advised of which I had 12 with 3 scopes inbetween in 2005. All with no recurrence.
In the first half of 2006 I had 6 BCG treatments with 2 scopes. Last week I went for a scope of which the Doctor had to take care of a suspect recurrence. In Nov I will begin 3 more treatments and then a scope. It is not pleasant, but I have grown accustom to the Doctor visit.
I have a family that depends on me -- we may not have a lot, but we have each other.
So please have faith!!!

Don

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

17 years 6 months ago #1420 by wendy
Replied by wendy on topic No insurance, husband refusing treatment
Chris....your husband can still get treatment without insurance. There are links to financial resources for cancer patients on webcafe here:
blcwebcafe.org/financialresources.asp

Your husband can survive this diagnosis, it is not an immediate death sentence.

Best wishes,
Wendy

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

17 years 6 months ago #1418 by Rosie
Replied by Rosie on topic No insurance, husband refusing treatment
Chris and others without adequate health insurance in USA:
Contact your nearest University Medical Center Social Services Department. Make an appointment with an on - staff doctor/urologist. Doctors that are exclusively on staff at a hospital and not in their own private practice are paid a yearly salary no matter how many patients. procedures they complete or what insurance companies pay. That is not true with those in private practice. Their income is based on the number of patients they see and can charge, treatments, surgeries, involvement etc. Many university medical centers have clinics that can provide excellent care for those without insurance or unable to pay beyond what their insurance covers. Clinics are no longer an all day wait. There are regular appointments and the best doctors put in their time in the clinics. When I first was diagnosed with b/c, my insurance plan had a very high deductible. I was having to pay all my own costs up to $4000 out of pocket. I told the office manager at the hospital cancer center I could not afford to pay the $425 for the BCG, office visit and instiallation each week. I was surprised to hear I could talk to social services and "work something out." I did receive a monthly payment plan that covered all my care, treatments, cysto, etc. for $50.00 a month. So much less than what I was paying each month with insurance. Perhaps a budget plan that will not put your family in tremendous debt will motivate you husband to get treatment. You did not state the type or grade of his tumor. I had bleeding for 4 years and a 4 centimeter tumor finally discoverd but it was not invasive. Maybe his is not invasive either but does need to be treated so as to avoid the possbility.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Moderators: Cynthiaeddieksara.anne