We often lament the large amount we pay every week (let's just say its more than we pay in taxes) and it goes up every year. A couple years ago we considered switching to the 80/20 plan based on our payouts each year to save money. Thank goodness we didn't!
We have received the first round of bills from Julia's week in the hospital and surgery. So far, it comes to $45,000.00! The amazing part..... we will only pay $200. We are loving Blue Cross at this moment. They also cover her chemo treatments and we will only have to pay the $15 copay for each visit. We are beyond grateful to be able to say this. It is a huge weight removed from our shoulders to be able to focus on Julia and getting her the best treatment we can without additional financial worries.
So a huge happy shout-out... THANK YOU BCBS!!!!!!!
We are back safely from DC. I will post the details of the end of our trip soon. (They will be before this post- I have a thing about chronology :) sorry.) I am also going back and adding pictures to my posts from the weekend now that I'm back on my laptop again. So be sure to check them out.
We saw the pediatric urologist, Dr. Steve Hodges, this morning. It turns out one of the top urologists in the country is at Brenners. He checked her urine today and she is clear of infection- good news. He is putting her back on septra/bactrim as a prophylactic for possibly the next year. He said she cannot get UTIs at this point because the cumulative effect of them causes long term damage to the kidney. He also wants us to keep her in diapers until we finish with chemo to be sure she is emptying her bladder as often as possible and not even trying to hold it.
He reiterated again that the UTI had nothing to do with the cancer and is just a God thing that she had an ultrasound done. He does want the VCUG done that they never got around to the day they discovered the tumor, just to be sure everything works in there as it should. It's a dye study done through a catheter in radiology. He asked when her next sedation was scheduled. This is one of those crazy questions that is now normal in our lives. Right now we don't have any, thankfully. He considered doing it in the OR just to save her the procedure experience, but didn't want her back under so soon. So, we decided to do it awake (the usual way) at Brenners' on April 28th, then we will meet him back at the office to go over the results. He was a wonderful doctor- very knowledgeable and friendly. I feel very confident in his care.
He also gave us a bunch of background on UTIs, potty training, and girls. I thought I'd pass along his insight- based on the most current research and studies:
- It is preferred for potty training to happen close to age 3. Girls have more complete control and emptying at that age. The genital area is very prone to infections and bacteria are looking for any chance to get in. Incomplete emptying and holding it are hazardous to their health.
- Teach your girls to pull their pants and underwear all the way down so their legs are apart when they use the bathroom. Keeping them together (physiologically) forces wetness and bacteria into places it should not be.
- If they look irritated or red (girls of any age) use vaseline or 'yellow' a&d or petroleum jelly as a barrier twice a day to prevent bacteria from colonizing.
(We go back for chemo tomorrow at 10:30 am and will have our meeting with Dr. Wofford at that time.)
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