UPDATE

[oujour76]

Mar 8, 2020 13:06:11 GMT -5 Walter said:

Mar 8, 2020 11:29:52 GMT -5 DrSchadenfreude said:

My former office partner of many years was diagnosed with widely metastatic, Stage IV colon cancer several years ago.  I thought he was a goner.

He was treated with expensive mono-clonal antibody injections.

Alan is alive and well today-- skiing, traveling, and taking art classes!

That's the stuff I wanna hear!!
Woohoo!

Jimmy Carter had immunotherapy as well...seemed to work for him.

[gatr55555]

Mar 6, 2020 18:00:57 GMT -5 Walter said:

Finished radiation therapy this morning and met with Oncologist guy to discuss next move.
He's suggesting immunotherapy rather than chemo, which if just fine by me as chemo is just basically poisoning your whole body in hopes that the first thing that dies is the cancer.
Immunotherapy kicks my own immune system up a notch and turns it into Rambo, where my own body wants to kill anything that even looks suspicious. Downside is that sometimes it goes after legit cells, but it will be monitored closely.

Here's the part that is stunning, however.
I am to undergo 12 injections, spaced 3 weeks apart.

Each injection costs....wait for it....$50,000.

Good luck Walt. Hope it works.

[trnyerheadncough]

Mar 6, 2020 18:00:57 GMT -5 Walter said:

Finished radiation therapy this morning and met with Oncologist guy to discuss next move.
He's suggesting immunotherapy rather than chemo, which if just fine by me as chemo is just basically poisoning your whole body in hopes that the first thing that dies is the cancer.
Immunotherapy kicks my own immune system up a notch and turns it into Rambo, where my own body wants to kill anything that even looks suspicious. Downside is that sometimes it goes after legit cells, but it will be monitored closely.

Here's the part that is stunning, however.
I am to undergo 12 injections, spaced 3 weeks apart.

Each injection costs....wait for it....$50,000.

Since you’re still posting, I’m assuming you’re hanging in there, you tough old bastard.

I’m glad to hear it.

[Walter]

Apr 5, 2020 9:08:01 GMT -5 trnyerheadncough said:

Mar 6, 2020 18:00:57 GMT -5 Walter said:

Finished radiation therapy this morning and met with Oncologist guy to discuss next move.
He's suggesting immunotherapy rather than chemo, which if just fine by me as chemo is just basically poisoning your whole body in hopes that the first thing that dies is the cancer.
Immunotherapy kicks my own immune system up a notch and turns it into Rambo, where my own body wants to kill anything that even looks suspicious. Downside is that sometimes it goes after legit cells, but it will be monitored closely.

Here's the part that is stunning, however.
I am to undergo 12 injections, spaced 3 weeks apart.

Each injection costs....wait for it....$50,000.

Since you’re still posting, I’m assuming you’re hanging in there, you tough old bastard.

I’m glad to hear it.

Frankly, with all this COVID stuff I have gone thru in the past 2 weeks, the therapy sorta got lost in the shuffle, which is an odd irony in a way; spun out over the flu while receiving cancer treatment? WTF?

[canefan]

Apr 5, 2020 9:58:28 GMT -5 Walter said:

Apr 5, 2020 9:08:01 GMT -5 trnyerheadncough said:

Since you’re still posting, I’m assuming you’re hanging in there, you tough old bastard.

I’m glad to hear it.

Frankly, with all this COVID stuff I have gone thru in the past 2 weeks, the therapy sorta got lost in the shuffle, which is an odd irony in a way; spun out over the flu while receiving cancer treatment? WTF?

That would really suck. Know we are all pulling for you. I imagine by the time the insurance applies the "Provider Negotiated Discount" it will be more like $49,95 per shot.😁

[Walter]

Apr 5, 2020 18:13:51 GMT -5 canefan said:

Apr 5, 2020 9:58:28 GMT -5 Walter said:

Frankly, with all this COVID stuff I have gone thru in the past 2 weeks, the therapy sorta got lost in the shuffle, which is an odd irony in a way; spun out over the flu while receiving cancer treatment? WTF?

That would really suck. Know we are all pulling for you. I imagine by the time the insurance applies the "Provider Negotiated Discount" it will be more like $49,95 per shot.😁

Don't really care. Socialized, single payer, baby!! Woo Hoo!

I will say that what is paid is never what is billed generally, but at the same time some of the billed numbers are way out if line high in some areas (IMO) and others surprisingly reasonable. No rhyme or reason that I can understand.

[canefan]

Apr 5, 2020 18:39:52 GMT -5 Walter said:

Apr 5, 2020 18:13:51 GMT -5 canefan said:

That would really suck. Know we are all pulling for you. I imagine by the time the insurance applies the "Provider Negotiated Discount" it will be more like $49,95 per shot.😁

Don't really care. Socialized, single payer, baby!! Woo Hoo!

I will say that what is paid is never what is billed generally, but at the same time some of the billed numbers are way out if line high in some areas (IMO) and others surprisingly reasonable. No rhyme or reason that I can understand.

I used to always get a kick out of reading EOB's and seeing the term "Provider Negotiated Discount" resulting in the insurance company usually approving less than half of what was charged. I never negotiated a discount with any company. The negotiations consisted of here is a contract to be on our panel of providers. Agree to take what we pay or you won't see any patients covered by our insurance.

[cbisbig]

Mar 8, 2020 14:29:12 GMT -5 oujour76 said:

Mar 8, 2020 13:06:11 GMT -5 Walter said:

That's the stuff I wanna hear!!
Woohoo!

Jimmy Carter had immunotherapy as well...seemed to work for him.

Had a buddy go thru immunotherapy.
Didnt help him, sadly.

[Walter]

Apr 6, 2020 17:48:50 GMT -5 cbisbig said:

Mar 8, 2020 14:29:12 GMT -5 oujour76 said:

Jimmy Carter had immunotherapy as well...seemed to work for him.

Had a buddy go thru immunotherapy.
Didnt help him, sadly.

Gee...Thanks for the uplifting report!
Just kidding.
Immunotherapy, (at least in my case) is only about a 50/50 shot. Lots of things can either make it ideal or useless.
Backup for me is surgery and/or Chemo, which I would like to avoid.

[cbisbig]

Apr 6, 2020 18:50:53 GMT -5 Walter said:

Apr 6, 2020 17:48:50 GMT -5 cbisbig said:

Had a buddy go thru immunotherapy.
Didnt help him, sadly.

Gee...Thanks for the uplifting report!
Just kidding.
Immunotherapy, (at least in my case) is only about a 50/50 shot. Lots of things can either make it ideal or useless.
Backup for me is surgery and/or Chemo, which I would like to avoid.

You might check into high dose vitamin C and or h2o2 therapy.
The wife did a lot of research following her cancer, there are plenty of natural remedies for cancer and plenty of documented cases where it worked and California is one of the best states to recieve these types of treatments.