Round 4

Round 4 went ok...as good as it could go. 

My oncologist is thrilled with my progress. I asked him when I can consider myself to be in remission. He said that is an outdated term, and he uses "No Evidence of Disease", or NED. 

I am there now. WOOT!!!

My blood work was good yesterday..."beautiful" in the cancer world. My hemoglobin dropped slightly, but nothing to be concerned about. 

The genetic testing for Lynch Syndrome was done on my tumor, and it has been ruled out. YES!!! 

We are still moving forward with having the full genetic workup done to determine if there are any other hereditary predispositions for more cancer. I feel this is the best way to be proactive moving forward. I meet with the genetics counselor next Weds.

I went wig shopping earlier this week. I'm not bald yet, but the way things are going, I may be soon. I had a consultation at a well-known hair replacement salon (I am not going to mention the name). After a quick chat about my situation, she asked what I was thinking about price. I said it was being paid by insurance, but I didn't know how much. I asked what the typical insurance company reimbursed. 

"Wellll, some plans do 70%, others 90%...it all depends on the plan." 

I am fortunate to have a decent insurance plan, so I guessed we were probably in the 80-90% slot. She did a lot of coaching on what to say to the insurance company when inquiring about what they pay. It started to feel...weird.

So we talk about real hair vs. synthetic. Synthetic is easier to care for, real looks better. Synthetic is cheaper, real is more expensive. Makes sense. I tell her synthetic may be my best bet, since I don't want to fuss with maintenance.

She went and grabbed samples for me to try on. One was...wavy...the other two were stick straight, all real hair. Straight is not my thing. I want to look like me. I told her this, and she brings me straight. WTF?

Asking her about the slim pickings, she says that they don't have a lot of curly wigs in stock. If I wanted, they can always perm a real haired wig. They really know what they are doing, and it will look great.

Perm. My immediate thought was of the nightmare of perming my hair as a kid (I didn't condition my hair back then, so didn't know it was curly to begin with), and of how awful and fake the curls looked.

So I grab the wavy one and tried it on. It was exactly my color, and looks exactly like my hair did when it was short. I loved it. LOVED it. 

Until I looked at the price tag. $3600. 

Am I at a car dealership? Where am I? 

"What about synthetic?" I ask. 

"Hmmm...we really don't have anything in synthetic that's curly. Let me go look again."

She returns with a DARK red-brown (I am light brown), fuzzy, Halloween grade, piece of shit that had a total of ten curls in it. No other hair, just ten fuzzy curls. I try it on, knowing I will hate it. Yep. Hate it. Can't stand even looking at myself in it. Not. Gonna. Work.

Ok, so if my insurance covered 90%, the one I love would cost me $360. Spendy, but doable. I leave, telling her we would be in contact after I talked with the insurance company. She gave me her card, and had a huge smile on her face when I left. A smile that said *commission!!!!*.

So I call the insurance company. Followed the coaching, step by step. I am transferred to another entity, who covers this type of thing. I restated the coached phrase, "I have a doctor's prescription for a full cranial hair prosthetic for drug induced alopecia". 

"Ok, Ms. Allard, for a chemo wig our reimbursement is $250 for the wig and supplies."

I was devastated.

I called the consultant and told her what I will be reimbursed for and that the $3600 wig was out of the picture. With their small inventory of curly wigs, I just didn't think this was a good fit. Her reply was, "Well, we could do a lower priced real hair and perm it?" Nope. Not gonna buy something, have you fry it and hate it. She restated that they were experts in this field, and the really know what they are doing. She ended with, "I'll have to do some homework. Let me call you back." 

After sobbing for a couple of hours, wanting my real hair back (NEVER did I think I would be saying that!), my intellectual side returned. That entire visit was choreographed to make me fall in love with that wig. From the "We don't have anything curly," to the one that was curly and perfect vs. the straight ones. And then, the fuzzy piece of shit she knew I wouldn't like. 

It was a car dealership. They just sold wigs instead. 

So I called another shop, explained the situation and my reimbursement amount. They said this was absolutely doable. I went there with my mom, and, after trying on about a hundred wigs, we found a synthetic one that looks like me. The price? About $150. I will be able to get the supplies I need, and the wig, with nothing out of pocket. It will be here next week. Thank you, Merle Norman, you treated me with kindness and respect.

I still haven't heard back from the first place. Obviously, I wasn't the big dollar client she wanted. Every time I see their commercial now, it makes me mad. How can a business do that to people who are sick? I couldn't do it. 

So, that was my wig shopping nightmare that ended up working out in the end. I will have hair when I need it. That's reassuring to me.

Ok, I have to lay down. I have the pump on for another day. Fluids for tomorrow and Saturday. Ron has been cleared to "unplug" my port when it's all done, instead of waiting for a nurse to show up. Then, it's time to build back up, and kick some more ass.