tugon (imported) wrote: Sat Nov 10, 2012 8:39 pm Received the bill for my appointment with the Oncologist and the one office visit was $356. I have yet to receive a bill for all the lab work. Yikes it is cheaper to die. She wanted to see me in two weeks from the first appointment and I am hoping a follow up will be less expensive.

Offer to pay cash on the spot what the insurance companies would pay. Might be they'll take it.

Tomorrow I have my second appointment with my Oncologist. She will be going over the results of the blood work. I am wondering if the blood will tell all or if I will need the bone marrow test. Oddly my biggest fear is if I need T more than if I am sick. This 12/06 will be my 15 year anniversary and I would hate to miss it by starting T.

kristoff wrote: Sat Nov 10, 2012 9:48 pm Offer to pay cash on the spot what the insurance companies would pay. Might be they'll take it.

That has been out smarted by the insurance companies' special prices.

The "cash discount" of 10% - 20% is still not as low as the figure charged to Blue Shield, Inc.

I say: Ask them the price on the Blue Shield PPO list and offer to pay that in cash on the spot.

I bet it is a lower number then the cash discount.

The CASH discounted patient still pays more then the insurance company reimbursement. :realpisse

How about :

One and the same price by that vendor for services regardless of the payee.

Isn't that the law anyways?

Moi

Soak the powerless.

moi621 (imported) wrote: Mon Nov 19, 2012 11:06 pm That has been out smarted by the insurance companies' special prices.

The "cash discount" of 10% - 20% is still not as low as the figure charged to Blue Shield, Inc.

I say: Ask them the price on the Blue Shield PPO list and offer to pay that in cash on the spot.

I bet it is a lower number then the cash discount.

The CASH discounted patient still pays more then the insurance company reimbursement. :realpisse

How about :

One and the same price by that vendor for services regardless of the payee.

Isn't that the law anyways?

Moi

Soak the powerless.

It is a battle fighting for a fair price for services. I am filling out paperwork for discounted care.

Well the good news first. Taking T will not help. Bad news is that according to the second lab results my red, white and platelets are all low. She feels strongly that we are catching something early but I will need the bone marrow test. As I think about how I feel and function I am not sure what else I am willing to do.

Speaking with another gentleman who sees the same doctor for much the same issues his concern is all the testing and expense. He has been through it all and they still do not know what is wrong. I may wait until I feel like something is wrong before further testing.

One of the things my doctor mentioned is depending on what the biopsy may say she might have me take a chemotherapy pill. This has been bouncing around in my head and my thoughts are bullshit. I feel to good to put that poison in my body. I am finished with this because I think I am fine regardless of the numbers.

Good luck with the biopsy, Tugon

Well I went back to my GP yesterday and he is morphing into a kind and caring person. He did find some blood work I had in 2010 and my blood was in the low range then. Of course now they are all below the acceptable range. The term alarm level low indicates where the levels are now.

He looked at the notes from my Oncologist and how she wants to collect the bone marrow specimen. He said he never used CT guidance to collect the specimen. He mentioned his experience and I said anytime you want to drill for bone marrow let me know. I do not need it done in surgery with guidance under anesthesia. If I knew him better I would have said I had my nuts cut out under a local in a motel room.

My blood cell levels are dropping and my blood sugars are rising. He gave me samples of a med that contains both my metformin along with a drug to stimulate the pancreas. I will also be taking a timed release Glipizide. Two hours after a breakfast of a sausage and 1 slice of dry mulitgrain toast my blood sugar was 300. Hell I should have had a doughnut instead.

I am a fairly healthy eater but obviously need to do better. I guess I need to learn to suck nutrients from the air and avoid food altogether. I do need to minimize my wine consumption.

Sweet red or white wines, yes; minimize those.

Dry reds, like Syrahs, no. Consumption of these with a meal helps to keep blood sugars from rising so fast and high.

One thing that will help with that is to ditch the breads, multigrain or not.

Paolo wrote: Thu Apr 18, 2013 6:41 am Sweet red or white wines, yes; minimize those.

Dry reds, like Syrahs, no. Consumption of these with a meal helps to keep blood sugars from rising so fast and high.

One thing that will help with that is to ditch the breads, multigrain or not.

I do avoid bread for the most part. Every now and then it is easy when rushed to throw meat in a slice and eat on the run. My diet has not changed but my blood sugars kept rising. I was maxed out on some meds so we are trying a different combination. I do consume a lot of wine but no more than when my bloodsugar were better controlled. Not knowing what might be wrong could be making me paranoid.