Good News about Bad News

T-cells

I got some yesterday--good news about bad news. I received a letter from my insurance carrier that they will cover the fairly new procedure that I will undergo in January (dates are not yet fixed), a procedure to empower my own body to fight more efficiently the metastatic prostate cancer (moving into the bones), a disease first diagnosed late in 2004.

A few weeks ago I wrote about this procedure--this "immunotherapy"--so I'll not do so in detail again, but, simply (!?!), I will undergo three sessions of draining my blood, removing T-cells (the warrior cells!), returning my blood to me, sending the T-cells down to Atlanta to be energized, infusing them back into me. Three withdrawals, three warrior-cell enhancements, three returns to me--in a five-week period.

The withdrawals will be at the Akron Red Cross; the returns will be at University Hospitals in University Circle. Each session will take up to four hours. I'm going to have to find some fat novels to take along with me!

I am relieved for the coverage, but I'm not going to jinx myself by telling you who it is. (Don't want anyone to have second thoughts!) It is very expensive, I can tell you that--so much so that if the company had not approved the sessions, I would not be having them.

Of course, I am grateful. Relieved.

But I am also passionate about how this sort of procedure should be available for everyone who needs it. Imagine this conversation:

PHYSICIAN: We have this procedure that might save and prolong your life.

PATIENT: That's wonderful! I can spend more time with my family, my grandchildren, my--

PHYSICIAN: Only ... [Pause.] ... you don't have insurance. [Or: Your insurance plan won't cover it.]

PATIENT: But--I--

PHYSICIAN: I'm sorry.

PATIENT: How much time do I have?

PHYSICIAN: Who cares?

Well, no physician would say such a thing--surely not! But it's exactly what our country's health-care system is saying.

If you're fortunate enough to have worked for an employer who offered health insurance (I was), if you're fortunate enough to have a comprehensive plan in later life (I am), if you're financially secure (we're not rich by any stretch--but we are making it), well, then you're in luck! You've won the Lottery of Life!

But if not ... well ... who cares?

I just don't see how these Senators and Members of Congress who are weighing the removal or reduction of health benefits to the most needy among us can look at themselves in the mirror.

Maybe they do look, though. It's just that they don't see anything there. Vampires can't.