Rejected, part 2

So the pharmaceutical company thinks a couple of journalists make too much money to get any help with the chemo our "benefits" won't pay for...
Did I mention that the infusion and the oral medication cost $24,000 for a month's worth of treatment? Sure, we've got that laying around.

We were going to just outright buy the pills ourselves, but Mike's doctor says they really need to work in conjunction with the infusion chemo. And no way can we pay for that at $11,000 a pop.

But we're not giving up. I will not let this go and I have become shameless in my pursuit. I sent a sappy, begging, pleading letter to a VP in our company, who oversees employee benefits. I did everything but send her pictures of my child. She actually wrote back and said she would look into it. The HR person at our paper is now involved too. She says the prescription service rejected the medication because they can't find any link between these drugs and Mike's cancer. So we're trying to get Mike's doctor to send us his research and hopefully re-submit the claim. I also called our insurance company -- different from the prescription service -- and they have a process where claims for rejected medication can be submitted to them. So that is under way as well.

So we've got some balls in the air. And we're waiting to hear from the doctor's office in Tennessee to see when we can get an appointment.

It's been really frustrating, but through the insanity, we've been reminded what good friends we have and that we aren't in this alone. We appreciate all your offers and tips and phone calls and everyone working all their contacts to see if they can get something to shake out. We had to turn down one friend's offer to sell his dog's kidney... but we're truly grateful for everything.