This might have been the final post

Readers of this blog may recall that I was having difficulty posting when I wrote the last post on February 20.  I have been unable to post since that date (February 20) until right now after Daniel worked his way to a simple procedure that I can follow to access the blog in Gmail.  All my previous efforts enabled me to see and/or read the blog, but I could not get to the dashboard to post and nothing that I tried helped.  Every time I got deep into attempts to reach the dashboard I got a message telling me that I had to use the program that I had used when I started the blog, which was Earthlink.  Daniel has the blog program now opening on Gmail.  (That Gmail address was incorrect; it should be ronwillden@gmail.com.)  Had Daniel not "fixed" this posting effort, I thought I might start a new blog usisng Gmail for access and write one post notifying any readers that this would be the last one ever.

I seem to recall that I had something to post about after each visit to the BMT clinic, but now I have to go back to my diary to find any events so noteworthy that I recorded them.  The clinic was so crowded on February 25 that I had to take a chair in the very back of the Infusion Room, but the procedures (vitals and Velcade infusion and no blood draw) were done so rapidly that I left before 11:00.  The next Monday was totally different; I waited until 10:40 to see a nurse's aide for vitals and then had to wait in one of the examining rooms for a line in my port, bloodwork results, and the Velcade infusion.  An order was taken for a sandwich that wasn't delivered until I was ready to leave the clinic, but I brought it home to share with Emma.  The visit to the clinic the following week, the last one before 2 weeks off, was totally different.  I had no waiting at all and was ready to leave by 10:40, but had a long wait in the pharmacy and could not fill the prescription for Lovenox because Humana would not authorize payment until Wednesday.  I had enough on hand to last until the 18th, but being on "vacation" I elected to get it filled at the nearby Walgreens instead of driving back up to the Huntsman Hospital.

The reduced amount of Velcade and the "days off" have improved my stamina as well as the neuropathy and I am able to shovel some of the snow that we continue to get without becoming excessively tired.  I had thought the 30% reduction in the volume of Velcade should result in the same reduction in its cost; I recently received an Explanation of Benefits from Humana, the first one since the reduction began, and the covered cost was reduced from $886.20 to $620.34: exactly 30%.  You would never guess this by looking at the Charge Column on the Explanation where the charge has always been shown as $3,163.00 and on this latest one as $2,334.00.  Humana excludes a large portion of this charge because of contracts with the provider and then pays 80% of the covered charge with the patient paying the balance.  The University of Utah Health Care bills me for the charges, but tends to accumulate them and sends me bills that may amount to only $10.00 and then occasionally one to several hundred dollars; the largest of which in 2012 was for $706.93.

Emma's health remains good; she goes to the aquasize class frequently, and went out after lunch today to help clean the 8 inches of snow we had received by this morning from the deck.  She has gone to several baby showers for Kersten's baby, due anytime within the next 3 weeks, and plays bridge 2 or more times per month.  Our evenings out with Roger and Shirley Sorenson to have dinner and then attend plays at Pioneer Memorial Theatre or the Hale Center Theatre may have come to an end because of Shirley's difficulty with stairs.  We certainly will miss these.