Up Date

[chris.wg]

Hi everyone and welcome new members. Sorry I haven't been around life has been very hectic for me. So, last I posted I looked like a poster child for remission. Guess not. After 2 years On Cytoxan and the most we could drop it without signs of activity was down to 125mg. My doctor and I agreed it would be best for me to go to the medical University I spoke of. Any rate long story short I just had my 2nd infusion 800mg rituximab 2 more to go then wait to see what the doctor says. Something I believe people on this forum will benefit majorly from that I had found out. My concern with rituximab was that my insurance may not cover much of it. Reason being I work for a store with a pharmacy and our medical plan calls for our drugs to go thru the pharmacy usually. So I wasn't sure what this would do for what I owe since I'm no longer locally treated. Any rate the university gave me a number to call. It was for Genentech BioOncology Co-pay card. You have to be being treated at a approved facility but. They are the manufacturer of rituximab and will work with your insurance so the most you pay out of pocket is 100 dollar. And will cover up to 25,000 dollars per year of the cost at least that's what I was approved for. If this is information anyone needs or is interested in I am going to post the number in the medication thread. If that's the wrong spot Please move it for me moderators. (seems like a good place to me -- vdub)

[BookNut]

If it is comfort to anyone....I have a former student who works for Genentech. He is one of the two most brilliant people I have ever met. He is also very idealistic. He thinks the world of his company, believing the scientists to be very thorough and conscientious in their research and the company in general to be very ethical. My student was and is amazing. I first met him as a kindergartner. His teacher was at her wits end. She came to me saying, "I have a room full of five year olds, most of whom barely know how to wipe their noses. And here is this child who can read everything in the room. I cannot give him the attention he deserves. Will you let him come to the library and work on some projects that will challenge him once or twice a week?" I agreed, thinking to myself, well - this child can probably read a few simple chapter books. I will see what he likes. I started him with a series very popular with early readers - "Frog and Toad". Well - it soon became obvious that he was WAY beyond that stage. I would estimate that he was probably reading at an 8th grade level....at least. And he had the comprehension to go with it. Frog and Toad turned out to be a very good start, because he was instantly interested in why two similar looking animals were called by different names. So - that led us to to encyclopedia. He could handle the Encyclopedia Britannica's articles, having no trouble with the scientific words. Amphibian simply rolled off his tongue. One word or sentence would lead to another question and more pursuit of knowledge. A truly amazing child. I feel privileged to have worked with him. It was hilarious to watch this tiny child racing through the library collection. Although our school was small with not a great many opportunities for a gifted child - it did have the advantage of being a k-12 school, which meant he had potential access to the high school library as well. So - with his parents permission - he was allowed to check out whatever caught his eye, with no limit to grade level and no limit to the number of books he was allowed to take out. He also benefited when computers came into the school and he and I enjoyed learning about them together. He graduated in the early to mid 90s and I was surprised and gratified to receive a lovely thank you note from him a year or so ago. Evidently he never forgot our little library. It was wonderful to hear from him and to catch up on his life. Many accomplishments - working in Africa for the Bill Gates foundation among many other things.

Anyway - I am rambling. But your mention of the company reminded me of that little kindergartner with the big mind from long ago.

[chris.wg]

That's wonderful to hear. It's to know that a young gentleman like this works for a company so many of us on this forum will come into contact with. Thank you for being a obviously early inspiration to him.

[feliciamings]

I have received 3 infusions of Rituximab and all of them were taken care of via Genentech. I believe as long as your household makes less than $100,000/yr you are eligible for it for free. It was really fast and easy to get me approved and once you are it last for a year so if you need more than one infusion during that time period you are already covered.

I hope this helps!