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Hi guys,
I've had about a dozen bmb's done over the years, most of them were done 18-20 yrs ago when I was sick the first time. They used to give valium & morphine and they used to have reusable needles (!) which used to get blunt (!!) and hurt like hell. Valium and morphine didn't seem to dull much pain, and morphine often makes me sick. The 2 recent ones I've had I've only had the freezing and they haven't hurt that much at all.
What galls me is that it took me insisting on a 2nd bmb this time in order to get it, just as recently as March 8th she was telling me she was confident in her diagnosis but if I insisted, then she'd do another one. Otherwise, I would have already been on the treatment for PRCA which probably would have worked about as well as the cyclosporine and wasted yet another year. I had my suspicions after the IVIG failed that maybe something else was going on. I am glad I didn't just jump into another treatment, and this time if the next bmb doesn't work (and maybe even if it does) I'm going to insist on seeing another hematologist.
I'm in Canada so I don't have to worry about insurance covering these procedures. I just have to worry about how to pay for the meds. ATG is covered because you get it in hospital. I have drug insurance but I only have 1 week left at work and my husband has been unemployed since Nov. Insurance covers 75% so if the drug is expensive it still can cost me quite a bit.
Is there a quick run-down of treatments for aplastic anemia? She just said I would get ATG but I really would like to know what my options are, and what the pros and cons are and not just be told what the next treatment is. I am so burnt from researching PRCA.
Thanks,
Deb
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