Cancer is exhausting. But… The good news is that I’m a survivor. There is no longer any cancer in my body. That doesn’t mean that it won’t creep up again. It just means I’m cancer free for now. Yay!
But I had every desire to continue writing about the journey, except I just couldn’t. The surgery was done robotically and I have only three small scars. It’s truly amazing, as is my surgeon, Dr. Paul Vesco, at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. I’m so grateful to him and his staff that I can’t tell you. It’s been 6 months now, and my energy is still pretty low.
The only thing is that I have an abnormal gene, apparently. The gene can give me cancer anywhere in my body, for no reason at all. Nice, huh? I consider myself lucky. I don’t need chemo or radiation, but I do need a very expensive drug. It’s outrageous! The co-pay is $1,875! Lucky for me, my insurance company will pick up the tab now and until the new calendar year. This drug is supposed to correct the genetic problem. Hmm… So, every year that I need it, I’ll have that outrageous co-payment, just to continue living cancer free. Looking over the state of things, I wonder if it’s worth the price. Really. They know people are dying and our politicians just sit still for it because it’s not them. Maybe I should run for Congress. Ha!
But that’s the way with another of my drugs, the cost was outrageous here, so I’ve been getting it in Canada since 2011, where it costs 1/3 the price. Yet, if Trump’s tariffs kick in, that may not be a viable solution anymore. Nobody looks at this! We’re paying three times here what the drug costs across the border. What is wrong with this picture? An old doctor of mine told me it’s because we have to pay for other countries’ meds. NO! I’m tired of paying for everyone but Americans. We can use a break, too.. I’ll be looking for that 15% reduction, which is pretty much nothing, IMO.
Yet, I digress. I feel fairly normal, but I still get tired easily. I’m learning my limitations. I hope to know that you’re OK and that whatever you need is important. IMPORTANT. Let me know your frustrations in the comments. I’m hoping to get enough strength back that I can do something about it. No matter how small. We need to start sticking up for ourselves!