Chemo School

Show up to the dr's ofc, and the receptionist lady (the same one, I need not say, who made appts for me w/o telling me) said, "O, by the way, did they tell you that you needed to pay your balance today? That'll be $1500."

[Sure! I just went to the ATM, let me pull that out of my back pocket! I ws going to go eat lunch, but never mind! I'll pay for my chemo instead!]]

"NO," quoth I, she did NOT mention money on the phone. She set up this appt and the first chemo, and that was it. No one has mentioned money up to this point."

"Well, we didn't know your treatment plan until now." [Which is odd, because the oncologist sure knew what it was, especially once we got the Her2/neu results back. He told me at our first meeting that it'd either be 6 treatments or 8, depending onthe Her2/Neu results.}

So I talk to the finance lady. And today was a bad day emotionally as Chemo Day fast approaches. So of course I start crying. And I think she was under the impression that I was crying because we're destitute or something, because she said she would send me the names of several foundations who could help out. She said our annual deductible was 2k, and we've already paid $500 of that, so I could pay $800 before the first treatment, and then she would talk to my ins co before my next treatment to see if the balance of the deductible had decreased.

OK. I mean, what choice do I have?

For those of you who would like to know, chemo school goes like this:

• you sit in a little room and watch a 7 minute video, narrated by an older white man in a lab coat with a stethoscope around his neck. Because all doctors are old, white, and have stethoscopes around their necks. Said OWM looks earnestly at the camera and says things like "Your doctor has prescribed a treatment for you called kee...mo....ther...a...pee..." [really? i was just here for the free cookies] and really helpful things such as, "Your doctor may allow you to eat during kee....mo...ther...a...pee... and he may not, so ask your doctor."
• then the nurse will come in, and hand you a bunch of papers telling you all the horrible things that could happen to you with chemo, and you have to sign a bunch of CYA papers, signifying that u understand yr hair and nails could fall off and u still won't sue.
• u get to ask any questions. the answers may or may not agree with other things you have heard.
• u get your treatment schedule

Tomorrow I get my hair cut. I've been wearing it down for about the past week. No more ponytails for me! DD2 will take pics of the Hair Cut. So, given that she's 5, if any of them turn out well, i'll post them here.