So I got a couple day reprieve from the infusion and they took out my PIC line yesterday. If the nurse heard my “Moooo” quote, she didn’t think it was funny enough to acknowledge, but I laughed for her.
It’s turning out that the secondary wound on my back is getting up there in size. In fact it’s bigger than the first one when it was just opened. The Nurse Practicioner, Julie, is worried enough about it she said yesterday was my last infusion and that I wouldn’t begin getting the shots till the 20th or so to give the wound a chance to heal. I’m glad for the break, but really don’t want to extend the ordeal any.
We also found out that to give myself the shots at home is going to cost me $1300 out of pocket just for the medicine before the insurance picks up the whole tab. On the other hand, if I go in to the hospital every day and have a nurse give me the shot I won’t have to pay anything… sort of. The insurance says I need to pay a $20 co pay for going in to get the shots, Julie told them they don’t even bill me for the nurse visit if I go in, so why should the insurance get a co-pay if there is no billing. Seems sensible to me. And to boil it down, why should I have to pay more for the exact same thing at all? This is only the cost of the medicine we’re talking about, having someone else administer it, maybe I could see an extra charge. But paying over a thousand dollars just for the ability to take it home and give it to myself at a reasonable hour?
I think the health care profession has some sort of silly bylaw that says they need to continually make you feel surprised at stupidity.