Thursday, September 1, 2022

August 7th to September 1st - I Am So Happy!

 


I always look forward to September 1st. As a long-time teacher, September has always represented the excitement of a new school year. The days get a little cooler. My idea of "perfect" weather is one where you don't need air conditioning or heat. 

I'm also happy because I am now on my second round of treatment with Ibrance. This drug is designed to slow down cell growth. It impacts cell division in both healthy and cancerous cells. It does have known side effects, but I seem to be tolerating them fairly well (as opposed to my experience on Verzenio).

It costs a lot of money to keep me going. The list price for 21 Ibrance pills is $13,000 plus. Add to that the cost of my monthly injection of fulvestrant ($740). This does not include the cost of bi-weekly doctor visits and blood draws. Luckily for me, I "only" have to pay $297 a month for Ibrance and a $25 deductible for the fulvestrant. I really don't know how people with fewer resources do it.

I'm just grateful for these additional days with good quality of life. So celebrate with me. There are many beautiful fall days ahead.

Kathy

11 comments:

  1. I celebrate with you, every day is a gift!😘❤️

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  2. The above was from me, Jeanne

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  3. Fall has always been my favorite time of year. I will think of you knowing you are celebrating these beautiful days. ❤️

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  4. I am so glad you are getting good results with your new meds. I am appalled at the price charged for medicines that cost so little to make. But as long as they work that’s the important thing. Continued prayers for improving health.

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  5. Celebrating you & the start of fall 🍂

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  6. Woohoo!!! Isn't it great when a medication is found that really works and is a tolerable price! I have a med that costs $1342 every eight weeks, and that is after insurance and Medicare have paid their part. The first payment each year is a doozy!

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    1. I hate that the software is having trouble allowing the names of posters to appear as anything other than "anonymous". Please tell me if you are the poster. So sorry to read about your med costs. Hope we live long enough for the $2000 cap on med in medicare to be implemented.

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  7. So happy to hear the medicine is helping. Will hope for many days with open windows and no air conditioning for you to enjoy! Alison Nommay

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  8. If I didn't write the initial comment, I could have. Stelara is my expensive med for Crohns disease. The initial dose copay is >$3000. Once I hit catastrophic coverage, the copay every 8 weeks goes down to $1342. I'm glad that you have been able to find a medication that works for you.

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