I also received a phone call from my pharmacy & my Pentasa needs to be refilled. I refilled it, but I'm nervous to pick it up & be told once again that it will cost me over $200. I qualified for charity care through my hospital & have been receiving 100% coverage for all DR visits, infusions, & specialty tests since last June. This worked out perfectly because my surgery, all CTs, MRIs, & 4-7 hospital stays were taken care of. However, it does not cover pharmacy costs & I'm left to pay Pentasa out of pocket after insurance. It's a lot of $$ & my income just got cut. So my life is on a severe budget. Why does being sick have to be so costly? I have to reapply for charity care before my next infusion or else I won't be able to afford Remicade either. Prior to being covered it was costing me after insurance $350-500 every 6 weeks. That's $ I don't have! Needless to say I'm sweating some things. I'm lucky that currently minus this momentary stress related flare-up my Crohn's seems to be under control. The reason it's in check is from my medicines & now I may not be able to afford the medicines, so if I can't afford the meds I go back to crazy flare-ups. This is a vicious cycle & when I think I'm ahead I fall behind. Well can you see why I'm having a stress flare-up?!? Plus things got worse with the family member & now we aren't speaking at all, which may be beneficial for a cool off period. We're both so emotionally invested.
Fellow Crohn's Casualties this next part is for you. I don't go see my gastro for a little bit & calling him doesn't really help. I'm curious about a few things & I'm looking for your answers to my questions.
1) During a flare-up when you have diarrhea & you've emptied the bowels, but still feel the need to go, has anyone ever had a mucus substance come out w/ some blood? Does anyone know what this is? My Dr. says he's only concerned if its a large amount of blood because blood in my stool is a constant.
2) Has anyone found anything to settle or lessen the abdominal cramping pain?
3) Has anyone had any luck with writing to a pharmaceutical company to supply meds? Specifically Shire which is the parent company to Pentasa? I was on Shire's website & they don't even have contact info that's close to me. Closest one is Massachusetts & their headquarters are in Ireland & all that's listed are mailing addresses.
4) I was told by my Dr. to not work out seriously, like lift weights or run long distances, which is ok by me because I hate to run. Does anyone have any exercise tips that are not strenuous to keep my body in shape besides walking?
I believe that's all the questions and stress related talk for now. I hope everyone has a blessed day & thanks for reading, I was able to cut 45 minutes out of my infusion time.
Take care!
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