The High Cost of Living, Part 1

So, what's involved in keeping me going?

Every day I take Cozaar, Nadolol, and Hydralazine to control my blood pressure. I take Prilosec OTC to combat stomach upsets. I take Nexavar for my cancer. I take Synthroid for hypothyroidism. I take Inderal to clear liver toxins. I take Ambien so I can sleep through the night. And a couple of times a week, at least, I take a very low dose of Dilaudid for pain.

Every two weeks I receive an Aranesp injection for anemia. Every four weeks I receive an infusion of Zometa to control my blood calcium levels. Every trip to Cleveland involves a C/T scan (currently every two months). And, of course, for every one of these procedures I have to have blood tests and labwork done.

Let's look at out-of-pocket costs: my prescriptions cost me about $60 a month. (For someone who never used to take more than aspirin, that seems like a lot.) Annually, I have a cap on costs for tests and procedures at $300, plus some costs that aren't covered; I generally hit the $300 limit within the first two weeks of the year of course, and have additional costs through the year. So let's say that I can plan on paying out $1700-1800 per year. Again, sounds like a lot particularly on disability.

Now, let's do the math without insurance: my prescriptions would cost me about $4,200 per month - Nexavar is $6,000 per fill, two months at a time. The blood tests and labwork would cost me about $3,000 a month. The injections and infusions would cost me about $10,000 a month. The C/T scans would cost me about $2,700 per month.

That's just under $20,000 a month. I wonder if I'm worth it - and I wonder just how in the name of pluperfect hell anyone can do this without insurance???