Well, finally trying to capture another week of my life and it has been anything but normal or slow paced and considering all this I feel pretty darn good. To note: I will probably post a whole series of pictures together rather than try to insert at certain sections, takes too much time and I’m no expert at doing this kind of stuff…👍
So, here we go :
Hospitalized from Friday, February 17th to Wednesday, February 22nd as a result of having 3 blood clots (1 in left leg, and 1 on each lung) and I required oxygen.
Saturday and Sunday – typical day at hospital…. random medical teams coming by to talk, assess etc. Rehabilitation to get me up walking, Visitors dropped by as well…not the greatest weekend but I guess could have been worse.
Monday, February 20th, 2017: Decision to take me off oxygen most of the day as I was doing so well. Radiation treatment at 1:20 so the hospital arranged transportation via hospital stretcher and was transported through the ” tunnel”……. The person who came to transport me I knew him. Glen is married to one of Tiffany’s friends mom (small world 😀). Oxygen was given to me during radiation treatment and when Rehabilitation came to have me go for walks….. otherwise I was oxygen free.i did receive a phone call from Richmond Cancer Clinic as I was referred back to Dr. Ho to discuss Chemotherapy treatment. Explained I was in hospital and would call when I was back home.
Tuesday, February 21st, 2017 Treatment 9am…. Today a busier day because decision was made that I was doing so well that I was getting released on Wednesday, February 22nd, 2017. Today busier than normal as many different professionals ( and sometimes their 4 or 5 interns in tow). Typical day before being released (nothing is ‘typical’ anymore 😀):
Home care staff to assess and determine home needs such as borrowing medical equipment through Red Cross. Blood work done. Physio Rehab came by to take me for walk as well as do a few stairs. All good to go 😀. Dr. Ambler & team of 4 or 5 from the VGH Thrombosis Program came to see me as I will need to be on blood thinners daily and it will be by giving myself a shot daily. Dr. Ambler gave me a few samples to take home as they are very expensive shots per month (approx $1,000.00).
Dr. Dhingra from Critical Care team (& team of 4) came to see me and showed me my CT scan with the blood clots on each lung.
Note that Tiffany was at the hospital a couple of times and every time she left to go somewhere was when any medical teams would come to see me. One thing in common in my conversations with all the medical professional was:
– no stairs to climb at home (or very little) – we live in a house and we live on the top floor and there is a tenant downstairs so we have 14 or 15 stairs to climb) . I explained that we ( well actually Tiffany and Jake) were actively looking for a one level rancher style home – so they were ok to release me home. They were using words such as reluctant/hesitant as or current accommodations were not ideal…. we reassured them we were in fact looking At my best needs and “we’re on it”… They also assessed my Medical equipment needs – all medical staff making sure I have what I needed in order to feel good at home.
So YAY last night at hospital: Dinner date with my daughter Tiffany and “mom have nice long shower/ bath” to get nice and clean 😀, and pack up all my belonging for Tiffany to take home. Tiffany came to the hospital at dinner time, and we went into the lounge and had our dinner…. ok then clean time, pack up, ready to break free tomorrow. Oh, and in between the nurse came to teach us to do the shot. Tonight I noticed that it maybe possible I contracted thrush mouth…so I got some saline solution to use for the night and would speak to Dr. Lefresne.
Discharge plan Wednesday: Radiation at 10:10 so VGH said they would discharge me, transport me to Radiation at the Cancer Agency and then I wouldn’t need to return to VGH….. HaHaHaHaha, apparently not how discharge works at all…. Went to treatment, then to see Dr. Lefresne. She explained that the Radiation treatment was targeting the lung but unable to get at the esophagus so was referring me back to Dr Ho at a Richmond Cancer Clinic in order to start Chemotherapy for the esophagus. Dr. Lefresne also confirmed that I have thrush mouth so gave me a prescription for mouthwash. Dr. Lefresne said that legally she could not release me as a patient as I was VGH patient…….. so I needed to go back to VGH to be discharged as well as my chart from the hospital was with me. As reluctant as I was to go back to VGH in fear of not being released I had realized the nurse that discharged me was to give me a tinzaparin needle for me to do at home. Back to VGH and then off we go…..Home Sweet Home 🏡
Once home I was a happy girl. I did call Dr. Ho’s office and set up appointment for Friday, February 24th, 2017 at 10:30am. I was also glad I was home as Tiffany had set up a viewing of a house in Tsawwassen for Thursday and now that I was home I could go view as well.
Thursday, February 23rd,2017: Radiation at 9am…. then back home to rest as we were going to look at the Rancher house in Tsawwassen later in the afternoon. Went and looked at the house and it was perfect for my needs. I took about 80 pictures but will put one photo up for a sneak preview 😀.
Friday, February 24th: Radiation at 9am, found out today that I just have only 2 more radiation treatments and Tuesday, February 28th, 2017 would be my last radiation treatment 🙂….. Radiation done, back home to go with Tiffany to my appointment at Richmond Cancer Care Clinic with Dr. Ho to discuss Chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy Information: Because the radiation could only target the lungs and not get to the Esophagus Dr. Ho has set up 6 Chemotherapy sessions. First chemo treatment will be Monday, March 13th am, each session I will be there about 4 to 4 1/2 hours. I will be receiving mild to moderate dose so as to not make me too ill, since I had just finished Radiation. Chemo training session will be on Tuesday, March 7th, 2017 at 1:30pm, Tiffany and Jaime will be attending as well so that we all understand. Sessions will be every 3 weeks until 6 sessions are complete (June 26th, 2017)…. WOW 3 days before my grandson Luca will be 1 year old on June 29th…
After that we went home to rest ( purge and pack)….we continued to purge and pack although we haven’t yet secured accommodations we know we have to move within a short time frame….
Now that I’m no longer working and my lifestyle has changed my morning routine in the weekday mornings is a fun,enjoyable routine:
I’m so fortunate Tiffany is on Maternity leave at this time, the fact that I live with Tiffany & Jake & Luca (already have been for 5 years). When Luca awakes in the morning, Tiffany puts Luca on her bed with a pillow, and goes into kitchen to get her cereal and a cup of coffee. I will sit in a chair by the bed and have my morning visit with Luca. We play and we talk so that Tiffany can get her morning coffee & cereal. NOW doesn’t that just make it all worthwhile – Pure Joy
Throughout all this Tiffany’s husband Jake has been a huge support and goes with the flow…. Thank You Jake for “being you & taking good care of Tiffany and Luca…. oh and me too ( I guess I did come as part of the package when you married Tiffany❤️)”.
Ok,this next part is a bit of a rant about my mix up with Fair Pharmacare….. BUT first of all if you have not yet applied for Fair Pharmacare, please do me a favour and do so right away. It doesn’t matter if you are young the fact that if you have applied and suddenly get sick and need many medical prescriptions Fair Pharmacare is a great program that will assist with costs and also create a deductible based on income. To be fair part of this mix up is of my own doing ( which I was unaware of, But now totally understand and is why I’m sharing with you).
Ok, since I’ve learned so much, ( and the bursting into tears over the phone with Fair Pharmacare I think made me more alert to capture and understand what they were explaining) If you need any information or help with this, call on me… I feel like I’ve become a expert when it comes to Fair Pharmacare 😀
Bear with me while I rant on paper about this…. but at the same time let’s just say that a Fair Pharmacare is a great program to help people with financial needs for medications 💉.
Fair Pharmacare has a formula to estimate your Family Deductible based on Net Annual Family Income…. ok here is the bit of twist to all this: For 2017 calculation for deductible this is based on income from 2 years past. So for eligibility this year they are basing this on my 2015 income. For my situation this is where it just got a little more complex:
2015 was the year that I retired. This particular year just so happened to be my highest year of income ever. I made the Community Living BC published “over $75,000 income list”, which is a published report “Employees with renumeration exceeding $75,000. So needless to say if they use my 2015 income my deductible that I will need to initially pay could be as high as approximately $2,500.00 or more….once deductible is reached Fair Pharmacare will pay 70% of costs up to a determined amount, then will cover 100% costs.
Ok, onto my next mix-up: FairPharmacare retrieves your income base through a Revenue Canada where they will get a copy of your “Notice of Assessment for 2015”. The problem in my situation is there is NO record of me filing 2015 Income Tax…. Say what!!! 😫😤… I have my paperwork indicating otherwise. I even owed them $5.87 and paid via electronic payment through my bank. Apparently when I filed my income taxes there must have a glitch and therefore on official records I did not file my taxes for 2015. SHIT really, ok how the Heck do we fix this. During all this, every person I spoke to either at Fair Pharmacare, Revenue Canada, Medical professionals have been saying ” it’s ok, it’s all going to work out”… well I sure hope so 🙏🏻.
Still my response was “Yikes, I’m so screwed if they use that income” … and that’s when some tears flowed whist talking to them on the phone… this is when they explained about requesting reviews …. ok, my mind A little more at ease……we are getting there: Once Fair Pharmacare determines your deductible you can call and request a review and request they use either 2016 income or current year 2017 (based on projections I believe)…So first I Need to file my 2015 taxes. This is now done and I’m awaiting to confirm either Revenue Canada that they received it, and find out how much I owe ( I’m assuming more than I first thought $5.87 as I assume I will also have to pay the interests). I am currently doing my 2016 taxes ( not that 2016 is going to help my situation as it was higher because I received pension plus I worked approximately 3 days per week.. But now that I understand it completely I need to follow the process through…. Thank goodness that I still have “My ducks in a row” and mentally can deal with all this… 👍
Two reasons I did go into a “Panic Mode” situation is :
- The daily blood thinner injections that I must do as a result of having 3 blood clots is a very expensive shot and my cost currently per month is $875. When I was in hospital Doctor Ambler from the VGH Thrombosis Clinic had given me 4 samples (4 shots) and said if run into any issues to reach out to her…. Tiffany called them and briefly explained my current situation and they put aside another 3 days samples. By mid week I needed to fill the prescrtiom but because of complications the Pharmacist decided to just do 10 days for me and that would give me time to sort out. Phew, thank you. My cost for 10 days approx $400. When she retrieved my information on prescriptions filled this year so far it also looks like I have already reached my extended health deductible of $250/year, my cost now approximately $177 per 10 days.
- Second reason is that I received a letter from Health Insurance BC advising me “Final Notice: Fair Pharmacare Coverage” advsingmy current coverage would expire March 2nd, 2017 and if they cannot verify income my deductible will be set at $10,0000 😳😳…..
Ok wow that was long winded and lengthy but I needed that 😀… On this day (Friday, February 24th in the Facebook world I actually posted a Feel Good Friday and talked about all my hearts I’ve been receiving from CLBC staff ( my last publish I put on my blog)….oh and another feel good moment – Confirmed today that we got the home in Tsawwassen and would be moving this month. We had to basically pay both homes for March rent but the positive: Absolutely worth it at the end as it is needed to meet my medical needs and probably for ease and peace of mind….. Tiffany, Jake, and Luca really are my heroes and those kids must be exhausted. The sooner we move the better as they also need some rest… 😍😍😍
Again I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for following along with me and walking down my path with me. I appreciate the support, prayers, well wishes, positive healing thoughts…. love you all 💖 😍 💋😘
Below are random pictures taken along this journey and because there are so many it was easier for me to just post them here. Facebook world has the pics and explains what each one is…l did not do that here as quite honestly seems like too much work for me 😘
My Health Journey 
You amaze me every day.
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