bad news please advise

Julie....Medicare seems to think that a person with an Indiana Pouch only needs 4 catheters a month.......they're very arbitrary on certain things and difficult to deal with...as if you can actually ever reach a person......In Ohio we now have OhioKepro.com which is a free service to negotiate problems with Medicare and payments.....hooray....i hope other states are following suit.
Pat

Thanks for the input on PET CT's. On Monday I am having PET from thr top of my head to my knees. We shall see, God Bless, Holly
ps. You are all in my prayers.

Well, for us, it doesn't matter if the pet scan shows the bladder. She has no bladder.

My husband, Bob has stage IV bladder cancer which has metasized into many other areas of his body. He had his first before doing any treatments, had his cyles of chemo, has had radiation (10 treatments each time) 2 different times on different areas of his body. Seeing how he felt and reacted to the chemo, I am glad his doctor is not suggesting anymore. He has had some quality time this year.

He had five PET scans last year and will be having one on Feb. 27th (his 72nd birthday).

Evidently, this is the best test for them to follow up on al lthe extensive bone lesions he has.

The PET scan did show the cancer in the bladder.

Clara

Holly, I think the PET scan does a great job of detecting tumors except in the bladder area which a hollow organ because of how PET scans work. As I am not a radiologist I don't know the exact details so I'm only repeating what we were told. So basically the PET scan was to see if there were any sites outside the bladder. He had the scan after we already knew he had a lung tumor. I think if he had other sites of cancer they probably would not have done the surgery.

Patricia, yes Medicare sucks but it is better than no insurance. I have a friend with breast cancer who had only Major Medical with huge co-pays and no coverage for Dr. visits. She will have to work for years to pay off her medical debt at a point when she would rather be thinking about retirement.

Medicare Sucks!
think that was succinct enough?