Smithsonian Trips December 2010

Good News

We got a call yesterday, Mark's NEW medicine will be shipped via FedEx today! They approved it. I am so thankful that he will be getting one more shot at this! I read that this new treatment has almost a 50% success rate with people who failed to respond to the standard treatment. Let's pray it works, and it doesn't make him too sick in the meantime. Thank you all for all your prayers. It means a lot to us.

Update on Mark

Well, we had a Dr app today at the University of Md with Mark's hepatology DR. It looks like the Interfergen may have been denied due to confusion as to whether it would be used as a monotherapy or in combination with the Ribavirin. His nurse said she would clarify that with the insurance company,and she is hopeful that once that is done, they may approve the new therapy. That's good news! Not so good news were his lab results. Just in the pass 4 weeks, his viral load has increased by a million and a half. This puts his viral load about 2 million. This leads one to believe that the pegasys and ribavirin treatment he is on isn't doing much of anything. His platelets and white blood cell count are low, that is to be expected though on these meds. She reiterated that he cannot be around anyone with an infection. His blood pressure is still high, even though he is on blood pressure medication. Also he is borderline diabetic, so he needs to eat a diabetic diet for a while to see if this helps. Oh, and he needs to lose weight!

We were able to get two weeks of samples of his old medicine to hold us over until the new medication comes to us. I hope it does actually come to us!

Denial

Got a letter in the mail today from the insurance company. They are denying the interfergen. Actually they said they are upholding the original denial despite the Dr.'s appeal. This is based on a decision made by an insurance co DR after reviewing standard medical treatment for this disease.
What next?
Stangely I am at peace with this. Philippians 4:7

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Yes, I want and need this medicine for Mark, but somehow God is going to work this out for us.

In addition, i tried to donate blood this a.m. and was denied. Seems that even though HepC isn't transmitted sexually according to the CDC, they still won't let me donate.

Update on Mark

Well, we are still waiting on his new medicine. He has been injecting the old Pegasys and taking the old Ribavirin, but now he is officially out of medicine. I called his nurse this morning and she saidthe insurance company still has technically denied it, but she has sent them everything they need to approve it. She is hopeful they will approve it withinn a few weeks. In the meantime, we go in Monday for an appointment wheere she will give him samples of his old medicine.
Pray this comes through for us.

A Gentle and Quiet Spirit

From my daily Bible reading this morning :

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.

1 Peter 3:3-4

Why is it that when women get together, in person or on the phone, myself included, the talk immediately turns to gossip? I wish I could just control my tongue. Why is sarcasm so tempting? Why does our society see sarcasm as funny? I feel like it is so hard not to jump in when someone is gossiping, and before you know it, I'm doing it too. Anyway, that is my goal for the week, to really focus on having a Gentle and Quiet Spirit. To control my speech and not be negative or inflammatory. The main reason for wanting to change my ways is my girls. How can I expect them to behave kindly and respectfully when they overhear their own mother gossiping on the phone? Now that Molly is 13 I am seeing some of the fruits of this bearing out. Some good, some not so good.
God guard my heart and guard my mouth. let nothing come out of my mouth or into my heart that is not pleasing to you...


I'll let you know how it goes!

Mark's Treatment

We are still waiting on Mark's new meds for his liver disease. His doctor decided the combination of Ribavivarin and interferon he was on was not working for him, after six months of being on it. She put him on a daily regimen of Interferon injections along with the twice daily Ribavivarin. This protocol was just in trials a few months ago, but now has been approved for use. However the insurance company didn't seem to get that message, They denied the medicine. This was about a month ago. After an appeals process, they have now agreed to pay for it, but we are still waiting for it. Meanwhile he is still on the old regimen, as doing nothing would be too dangerous for him. So he has the horrible side effects with minimal benefit. We PRAY this works for him. If it doesn't, there is nothing they can do for him except monitor him for signs of cancer and decreased liver functioning. A couple of years from now, there will most likely be a new treatment, but who is to say if he will be able to take advantage of it then. If you are reading this, please pray for him, for his health. Please pray for our financial security as he is not working as much obviously, and please pray for hope, that I can remain as hopeful and upbeat as he is.