Down the Hatch with Revlimid!

Gary swallowed the first pill of his new chemotherapy, today!  Given how despairing I was this time last month, it's amazing to know that new possibilities are on the horizon.   This chemo works slowly, which is actually good, so we won't see results for some time.  But as Gary wrote a few days ago, Dr. O'Connor has seen this particular three-drug combination work very nicely.  

Below, you can see the "priority" package that was FedEx delivered to us this morning.  It contained that single, orange bottle, which will last 30-60 days.  One pill is taken each night. 

Gary was charged $70 in "co-pay" for this bottle; however his insurance company paid the rest: $23,376.30.  Quite something!  

In addition to the uncertainty over whether this pill will work, or what the side-effects might be, Gary had to choose a new insurer for his prescription drugs, effective January 2014.  This change is part of a larger trend in the USA to shift the burden of expensive "specialty" drugs from the employer onto the disabled or retired employee.  Everyone is chafing under these expensive drugs: patients, employers, insurers, public health plans - the story is the same. 

Down the hatch, and hoping for the best!   We celebrated his new pill with a chocolate cake "chaser"!   (The pears on the table were just for decoration.)

Tomorrow afternoon, Gary will receive the other two drugs in this regimen, Doxil and rituximab, which are administered fortnightly in the doctor's office or at the hospital.