Cages were rattled at United HealthCare today!

If you read my previous post, you know that I'd been having problems with our insurance approving Greg's PET scan.  I had been trying to figure out a way to get the attention of someone higher up in the company and not coming up with anything.  Of course, I'd been praying and asking God for guidance.  

This morning, when I logged on at work, I saw on our company intranet site an article about National Doctor's Day.   I clicked on the article and decided that I had to leave a comment!   There is absolutely no doubt about it.  This was GOD directing me!   Here's what I posted:  

Within two hours of my post, I received an email from a woman stating that she had escalated my issue!!!!!  About ten minutes later, I had an IM (instant message) from the Director of the Cancer Team of OptumHealth (owned by United HealthGroup).   He stated that another woman was going to be reaching out to me.  Within 30 minutes, I had another call from someone at United HealthCare.  Jeanne is part of a team that helps its employees deal with issues such as ours.   

Jeanne was AWESOME to deal with!  She spent most of her afternoon contacting people within United HealthCare to find out what is going on and how to get this moving ahead.   When I spoke with her at 4:00, she advised that at 2:00, Greg's prior authorization request for the PET scan was placed in URGENT status.  That meant that they had to have a decision within THREE hours.   

I received a call from Greg's doctor exactly three hours later advising that the PET scan had been approved!  YAY!   

When I was speaking with Jeanne, she advised that she had received numerous emails from "higher ups" at United HealthCare and they are watching Greg's case!   The doctor that I had spoken to earlier in the day also advised that he contacted the head doctor at United HealthGROUP about our situation, as well!   United HealthGroup is #6 on the Fortune 500 and has an operating income of more than $11 BILLION dollars!   The HEAD DOCTOR of that company is now watching our case! No one can tell me that God's hand was not involved!      

Praise God that everything has worked out and we now have numerous people watching over us and making sure that Greg's treatment (whatever it may be), is taken care of properly by our insurance company!  THAT is the company I work for!  Thank you, United HealthCare!   

It's only the beginning, and already my insurance is making me angry!

So, Greg was (notice I say WAS) scheduled for a PET scan tomorrow.  When we spoke with the doctor's nurse on Tuesday she said she had already submitted for a prior authorization for the scan.  I called the insurance today, and they claim that nothing came in until late yesterday.  Of course, today, they have not yet authorized it.  I have a contact, somewhat higher up at United HealthCare, who has helped me in the past, and he made some calls for me.  He called me back and said if the doctor or his nurse call an state the urgency of this matter, that they will get it approved right away and he will be able to have the scan tomorrow. 

Well, not so much.  The doctor's nurse spoke with three different people, and they will not do anything to speed up the authorization process.  They said the request needs a "peer-to-peer" review.   That means that they want Greg's doctor to speak with the United HealthCare doctor.   Now, Greg's doctor was off today, so there is no way that Greg will be able to have the scan tomorrow.   Trust me when I say I'm not happy. 

The scan was originally put off until NEXT Friday.  I wasn't happy with that, because it's doubtful that the results would be to the oncologist by Tuesday, when we have our appointment to discuss the results and figure out our plan of action  THAT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!!!   

We were able to reschedule his scan for Wednesday, which will give us enough time to get the results of the scan to Greg's oncologist.   Now, we just have to make sure that United HealthCare approves the scan!   They have to call the doctor's office and give them a time when they can have the peer-to-peer review.  If they don't  do that tomorrow, I'm going to lose my mind!  I work for this company, and I just don't understand this process!   Greg has had cancer twice before.  We need to know if the cancer has metastasized.   This is NOT something I am willing to wait to find out!  We need to know what's going on.   

Greg's doctor's are the ones that are best able to decide his treatment and what tests are needed.    The last time we had to wait for an approval, it was for a CT Scan.  I don't remember what he needed it for, but general protocol for that diagnosis was an MRI.   When I called UHC to find out about the authorization, I was told it was denied, because they felt an MRI was warranted, instead.  I ABOUT LOST MY MIND!  Did they even LOOK at his medical records?  That is EXACTLY what I asked the person on the other end of the line.  Greg has a PACEMAKER do you REALLY want him to have an MRI and have it ripped out of his chest?  Seriously?   Two hours later, the CT scan was approved.  

I can't even discuss this any more.  I'm so upset right now.  I know that everything will get done, but I'm so pissed at our insurance company for not doing the right thing for it's own employee!  

Endoscopy Results were NOT what we wanted.

So, I have been putting off this post for a couple days until we knew for certain, and today was the day.  Greg had to have the endoscopy because he was having problems swallowing.  As it turns out, the reason he is having trouble swallowing is because he has a mass in his esophagus.  On Friday, the doctor told us that he would be "surprised if it wasn't cancer."    He took biopsies and sent them to the pathologist.

Today, we got the results.   Based on the sections that were examined, he has esophageal cancer.  We don't know what stage yet or any other information.  That's because the mass is rather high in his esophagus, which makes it hard to get to with the traditional endoscope.  

Because we also don't know if it has metastasized (spread), he needs to have what is called a PET scan.   Cancer cells show up as bright spots on PET scans because they have a higher metabolic rate than do normal cells, so it's the best test to use to see if the cancer has spread.   PET Scan Info  Greg is scheduled to have the PET scan this Friday, March 31, 2017.   

The other test he needs to have done is similar to an endoscopy, but they will go through his nose, instead of throat.  That way, they will have a clearer view of the tumor and be better able to take more biopsies.  He's going to have that done on April 4th. 

We have an appointment with the oncologist for April 11th.  One day before the 17th anniversary of his Bone Marrow Transplant!  When we see the oncologist, he will have the results from the tests, and will discuss with us a plan of action.  Once we have that done, I will be in a much better place than I am right now.  I HATE not knowing!  Once we know what stage he's in and what we have to do to combat it, I will feel better and more confident. We've been through this before.  We can do it again.   

A little more background on this cancer.  Seventeen years ago, Greg had a bone marrow transplant for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma (you can read all about it here:  Greg's Blog Starting in January, 2000 )  As part of his transplant, he had to have Total Body Irradiation (TBI).   Not only that, but about two years after his transplant (in 2002), he was diagnosed with something called Barretts Esophagus.  Unfortunately, between the TBI and Barretts Esophagus, he had little chance to avoid this diagnosis.  

Greg was originally diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma on Holy Thursday in 1992.  Aaron was just a year old at the time, and of course, neither of the girls were born yet.  After the chemo he went through, they are my miracle babies!   Greg was in remission for six years, and we found out his cancer had returned in November, 1998.  He went through two years of chemo, trying to destroy the cancer, which didn't work.  Our only option at that point was a Bone Marrow Transplant.   Greg's brother, Tom, was a perfect match for him.  The link goes to Tom's harvest page on Greg's blog.  

So, that's where we're at right now.  Your prayers will, of course, be appreciated.  

Colonoscopy and Endoscopy for Greg.

Yesterday, Greg was the lucky recipient of not only a colonoscopy, but an endoscopy, too!   As far as I'm concerned, the whole "prep" thing is the worst part of the colonoscopy!  I had one about 20 years ago, and that was just awful.   Seriously.  It's awful.  Not only did he not sleep well Thursday night, because he kept getting up to go to the bathroom, but I didn't sleep well, because I kept waking up when he would get up.  UGH!   I tried commiserating with him, but failed miserably, as I just wanted my sleep!  

So, Friday morning, we arrived at Aspirus Hospital in Medford for the procedures.   I actually forgot that this was kind of a big deal of a procedure, until the nurses, doctors and anesthesiologists started coming into his room!   





Gotta make yourself comfortable while you can!  

















The nurse felt really bad that she had a hard time getting an IV into him.  She said he had "thick skin" and that was part of the problem.  He doesn't have the greatest veins anymore, either, as they've been poked so many times because of all his cancer treatments and everything else he's been through.  She ended up pulling out a "vein finder" to help her locate a good vein on him!   Check this out!  

It looks like some cousin of R2D2 or something!  Ha!





Here, she's pointing at the vein that is showing up.   And don the left is a good vein!  That one ended up not working, either and she had to call for someone else to come and try putting the IV in.   I think it was the anesthesiologist's assistant that came and put one in.  He had a hard time, too, and I could tell it was painful for Greg.  I felt so bad and had a hard time watching. 








The good news is that the procedures are done!   

   

Happy Birthday Greg . . . and Canned Cole Slaw? Seriously?

I've been thinking a lot about starting this back up, and I guess it's time I did!   I'm not going to go ahead and rehash all the stuff that's happened in the last two years, so I'm just going to start over, as if I never stopped!  

Today, March 18, 2017, is Greg's 61st birthday!  (Just so you don't think I'm that old, I'm 9 years younger than him!)  It feels odd to be married to someone so old!  I mean, 61!  Really?  What's up with THAT?!   I'm not old enough to be married to someone who's 61! Oh well, it is what it is, right?  After all the health problems he's had, we're pretty darn lucky to even have him around still, so I'm going to stop complaining about having such an old man for a husband and thank God that I DO have an old man for a husband!  Thank you, Jesus!  

Last night, I took him out for dinner to celebrate.  He loves corned beef and cabbage and Friday fish fries, so I thought it would be great to take him someplace that has a buffet with BOTH!  You certainly can't beat that!   We went to a supper club in Marshfield, WI called Belvederes.  It was very good!  We got there around 6 p.m., and were the youngest people there!  Ha! The food was good and we had a very nice time.   The price of the buffet was only $13.95 each!  Can't beat that!  










Today was a busy day for me!  I had seen a post on one of my Facebook Canning Groups about canned Cole Slaw and decided I had to make some with cabbage as inexpensive as it is right now!  (For those that don't know, I've been a bit of a canning nut and have been canning all manner of things from potatoes to mushrooms to baked beans to chicken!)

My dear friend Jessica wanted some, too, so she came over to help.  We had six heads of cabbage that we shredded.  I used my KitchenAid and she used my Salad Shooter.  It actually went pretty quickly.  If anyone is wondering, the KitchenAid worked WAY better!  LOL   In case you didn't know it, six heads of cabbage makes a LOT of shredded cabbage!  We were trying to figure out what to put it all in so we could stir it and mix it up.  I thought my Nesco would be large enough, but noooooooooooooo.  It was in no way anywhere near large enough for all that cabbage!  We went into the basement to see what I had that might be larger and work for food.  Jess saw an older cooler, and we both said THAT'S IT!  We went out to the garage and got one our cooolers.  Jess scrubbed it out good and it was the perfect size!  

The picture above is cabbage, carrots and onions, all shredded.  We did need to break out the food processor to do the onions to get them the right size.  Not a big deal.  I have pretty much all the essential power tools!    

Once we had that all shredded we had to make the brine.  We needed 12 cups of sugar and six cups of vinegar, so I had to find a pot large enough for all that.  I ended up using a vintage pressure cooker that I picked up last year.  I would never use it for pressure cooking, but for cooking this brine, it was perfect!  

It had to cool before we mixed it with the cabbage mixture, so we decided to put it out in the snow to cool! 








We ended up with 30 pints total!  YIKES!  Having never had this Cole slaw before, we sure do hope it's good!  

And just for fun, I gotta ask . . . Can YOU fit a full size cooler in your sink?  I LOVE my farmhouse sink!  I'm pretty sure it's my favorite thing in the entire house!  

In case you're interested, here is the recipe for the Cole slaw -- now mind you, we used SIX heads of cabbage and got 30 pints, so adjust this as necessary for however much you want. We did have to double the syrup recipe to have enough of a "brine" in the jars.  Depending on how much you like celery, you can easily cut the celery seed in half.   It has to sit at least two weeks before we can try it, so keep checking here and I'll be sure to let you know how it tastes!  

Cole Slaw

1 medium head cabbage

1 large carrot

1 red or green pepper (I did not use)

1 small onion

1 teaspoon salt

Syrup

1 cup vinegar

¼ cup water

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon celery seeds

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

Shred together vegetables. Add the salt. Let stand 1 hour.

Drain water from vegetables. (I also rinse and drain.) Boil syrup ingredients together for 1 minute. Cool.

Add syrup to vegetables (or vegetables to the syrup like I did).

Pack into quart jars. (I use pints.)

Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

If you don’t want to can it, you could put it into freezer containers instead and freeze. Leftovers may also be frozen. This slaw may be drained before use and mayonnaise added, or used as is.

I've been told that when you open it, you can rinse it and add mayo if you like a creamy cole slaw, rather than a sweet/sour cole slaw.