Mom on her way to surgery for HAI pump placement

[Petit83]

After a couple of months of appealing with our insurance, my mom got approval for the hai pump at MSKC. So we won't have to move to NY after all! It is all a miracle! I do have to acknowledge the great help we receive from the case manager at Sloan. She made things happened. We paid out of pocket the consultation and angio-ct scan so my mother could become patient is Sloan. After that, Sloan fought for us with our insurance to get the treatment approved. So all effort was worth it! Mom will have surgery on nov. 4th
For those who are with the pump, how long after the pump placement did you get your first systemic chemo?
How long after the pump placement did you have the pump refilled? Is it on the exact day of your surgery? We want to know when to flight back for systemic chemo and when to go back to NY for the next pump refilled.

[Stanfordmom]

Really happy for your mom! fighting!
My first pump chemo fill was about 2.5 weeks after the surgery. You can book it with your oncologist right after surgery. The date doesn't have to be exact as they already filled the pump with saline when you are in the hospital. And my first systemic chemo was two weeks after that. I had that locally at Stanford Cancer Center.

I stayed in the NYC for about 4.5 weeks after the surgery just in case, but I would have been ok if I flew back to California after the first pump chemo fill (2.5 weeks after the surgery).

Hope this helps, and best wishes for your mom's pump replacement!

Sha

[bitchslapped]

Good luck! I hope you report back on your journey to MSKC. Was the problem with insurance due to out of network?

[Petit83]

Sha- Thank you for the best wishes and all the good advice !Certainly she could have flown back home but she decide to stay just to make sure the healing process after the surgery was smooth. And it has been except for the fact that they did not put stitches on her wounds.. Just a sort type of tape. Even dr D'Angelica noted these were missing. He performed the big surgery but Of course doesn't do the stitching part. Anyways.. It is a big surgery and she still recovering, especially because the wounds have not been sealed completely.

Bitchslapped- Yes, the main problem with the insurance was that MSKC was out-of-network. But a MSKC social worker helped us a lot. We did have to become a MSKC patience first. We paid the consultation and the ct Angio Scan out of pocket.