Lisa Haines

Great Article ! I've bookmarked this to share with others because this is a question that comes up often in groups!!

I agree totally and it's huge Pet Peeve for me, as well! Insurance companies should NOT be in charge of our treatments and I'll always fight to get the best possible treatment.

Thank goodness for the compassion and generosity of the drug manufacturers -- They often the the most helpful in these of situations. I'm very happy they are providing the drug for her and hope they will continue for as long as it's needed and is effective. I have been through previous denials with a Commercial Insurer and the "darn" companies they hire to review procedure and claim and it was so upsetting and stressful to find out the in my case (Much needed surgery was denied as not being medically necessary). I was so angry and upset as this happened to me only days before I was scheduled for the surgery and this was surgery I had to put on hold due to Covid and had waited months to have. My Husband had booked time off and we had all the plans in place to have the surgery on a planned date/time when Covid cases here were low and I felt it was safe. TO learn less than a week before surgery, after I had already had all my pre-ops testing and labs/consult that my surgery had been denied was beyond belief. Thankfully my surgeon and I made several frustrating calls and a peer review was rushed and ultimately they did approve the surgery. But get this, the reason it had been denied was ALL an error, because some "doctor wannabe" who works for the review company incorrectly read the procedure that was being done and flat out denied it? ALL because some one did not take the to read the "actual" procedure. I later did some research and learned that this happens more often than not and that many of these "medical reviewers" are "medical professionals" who never made it through "medical school" and are even always actually educated enough the make these types of decisions. It was a huge wake up call and one that I reported to anyone who would listen. To this day, I've yet to receive a formal "apology" form the insurer or their review company and now that I no longer have that coverage, it's sadly not likely that I ever will. But I have reported it to my local legislators and to send an letter to both the insurer and the review company to complain about their lack of empathy, especially to a patient dealing with Stage IV Cancer. I was irate and started to wonder IF I had actually been denied because I am living with "terminal" cancer. My surgery was not cancer related but was very routine "hip replacement" and I had already had my other hip replaced 4 years prior without any denial or question. It was very clear that this was medical necessity and very annoying to have it denied ALL in error? Or was it? I'm not sure I'll ever truly know the true facts in my case. It totally caused unnecessary stress and aggravation to my and also to my surgeon. So......never giver and fight hard to get the coverage that we deserve. You may just find that the denied was a mistake? I know with Medicare this process may be for more difficult, but I would still fight it as hard as possible to prevent it form happening to others. I do not feel any insurer should stand between cancer patients and care they deeply need. Okay.....RANT OVER!

Ro, I am so happy that this worked well for you and also HOPE it will continue. I first learned about the abscopal effect when I was on Immunotherapy which I had just after radiation (after progression) and there were studies that also showed that it can happen when you do Immunotherapy right after or in conjunction with radiation. Not sure if that is WHY I had such a good result, but I did and I am so thankful to my Oncologist for being such a great researcher! I truly believe she saved my life! Lisa PS: Very creative to call this the Roscopal effect! 💜

Ale - I am very happy to help and I sincerely to wish you the VERY best!

PS: I never had a mutation that was targetable myself, I have KRAS v12G and there is not treatment specific for that or any great clinical trial. However, I had a excellent response to Immunotherapy and I am now NED and just celebrated my 6th Cancerversary earlier this week. There are many Stage IV patients living long lives and being treated as if we have a "chronic" health condition. I HOPE you too will have a wonderful response to your treatments. My outlook started with Grim as I also had a brain tumor and pulmonary and it all came on with no warning or symptoms. You can click on my icon to read my full story! Lisa

Dear Ale I am very sorry that I somehow missed reading your story! Please know that many of us here are doing well with Lung Cancer even those of us who are Stage IV. It does however break my heart to think of someone as young as you (22) having to go through this. It is never easy but you are so young and for me that always seems to make me feel very sad and that it's very unfair. I hope very much you will do well with your treatments and know it can take time to find the one that works best for you. You have come to a wonderful group and you'll find lots of support here as well as in any of LUNGevity group on Facebook. Please know we ALL care and will be keeping you in our thoughts. Please know that this can all feel very overwhelming in the beginning -- there is just so much going on and it's LOT to take in and deal with. Please don't hesitate to reach out for more support -- we all TRULY understand how you feel. Sincerely, Lisa

I learned I had a Pulmonary Embolism while going through testing for my brain tumor (which was how I first learned I had Lung Cancer back in March of 2015). I had absolutely no symptoms or warning and it was a total shock and I was so lucky it had not caused me any damage. It was found when they did my very first Chest CT Scan to look for lung tumors. At the time I was already in the Hospital because of the brain tumor and they immediately put me on IV Heparin. When I was discharged a week later I was put on twice daily Lovenox Injections and then later that year switched to Xarelto which I will now be on forever. I have been told that PE's can be fairly common in Lung Cancer and once you have had once you risks is higher of having another. Ironically, one of the gals who Zooms with us each week on the LUNGevity Virtual Zooms was complaining to Shortness of breath last Wednesday which was very new for her (no pain) and she was also on antibiotics and did call her doc, but was told it was likely a side effect from her chemo treatments and the antibiotics. Luckily she had a chest CT scan last Friday which found she has a rather large PE, she was on Zoom with us Friday when the report from her scans was posted to her portal and she read it to use and we ALL immediatley told her to get off, and go to the closest ER. She took that advise ( she had already placed a call to her Onc, but had not heard back), Thankfully she went right in and she ended up being admitted put on IV Heparin and later that night had a surgical procedure to remove the clots which were very large and were putting her heart under stress. She is SO lucky and thankful she went in and is now on the road to recovery, but it was SO scary to know that those were there and IF not for the CT Scan that day, she could have ended up in serious condition. Anytime there is ANY question of a PE or clots in the legs, PLEASE seek emergency/urgent care -- clots are NOT something that can wait! Best wishes... Lisa

Shella, My thoughts to out to you and I I know fear and upset of learning you may have cancer. My cancer came on with very little warning (if you lock my icon you can read my story). Thankfully, today almost six years after being diagnosed with Stage IV Lung Cancer that had spread to my brain I am now (NED) No evidence of disease and "living life" with a chronic health condition, as are many long term cancer survivors. I wish you the very best and hope ALL your tests go well and that you do NOT have cancer. If you do, please know you've come to a wonderful group and LUNGevity and its members will be her to support you in any way we can. Best wishes, Lisa

Wishing your Dad the very best! I had hip replacement surgery in September after months of pain and having to use a cane to get around. I put it off for a long time because I was scared (not a fan of surgery) and then of course had to wait for Covid to decline so I could have it. Best thing ever and now I'm back to walked well and not living in horrific daily pain! I truly hope your Dad can have his surgery and a better quality of life! Lisa

So happy that you took it upon yourself to have a screening and that your cancer was found at an early stage. I never met the criteria for a screening and never had any warning or symptoms and by the time mine was found it was Stage IV! Happily with all the new treatments and Immunotherapy (my life saver) I will be celebrating my 6th Cancerversary next week and I am very happy to also be NED! (No Evidence of Disease). There are many more of us every year -- Stage IV Survivors living with Lung Cancer! I wish you the very best and hope you too will do well! ~ Lisa

Unless my team is playing I always root for the "Underdog" and in this case KC was favored by 3 pts, so I want to the Bucs, but I'm also a huge fan of "The Gronk" and being from New England it's hard not to want to see Tom Brady win another ring. I think Patrick is an amazing QB and will have many good years to come. I was surprised the Bucs won by such a big spread. It was just not a good day for KC! Congratulations to Tampa Bay, yesterday they played the best game and that's why they are now the Champions!

I get more upset daily and more and more people are getting the vaccines and finding ways around it! I am sick and tired of being left out here in MA and finding out there is NO SUCH as "any waiting lists" in my town, they do not even plan to have one (ever). ARGH! This vaccine rollout is extremely unfair and I'm so stressed about it ! ARGH! Good Luck to all! No one here in MA seems to care and you can bet I'll remember that at the next election!!

Dear Curry, My heart goes out to you and everyone who is diagnosed with Stage IV NSCLC (even hard to hear it in your case because you are so young). Sadly, Lung Cancer can strike anyone at any age and more and more of the newly diagnosed patients are young and healthy with no know risk factors. If you have lung you can get Lung Cancer. I can tell you that I am a Stage IV survivor and will be celebrating my 6th Cancerversary in March of 2021. if you lock on my icon/name you can read my story. I had a very grim outlook, but I'm doing well and as of my last scan I am now NED (No Evidence of Disease) which I something we ALL hope for. I wish you the very best as you move forward in your treatment plan. I do know folks who go to Moffit and are very happy, but I know folks to love their local cancer centers too. You have to find the right fit for you. I also agree that the most important thing will be to keep ANY health coverage and to avoid any gaps in coverage. As already stated, IF you go apply for SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance), it takes 2 full years before you become eligible for Medicare "A" and at that point, you'd still need to pick up Medicare "B" a MediGap plan and a Prescription Drug plan and IF you end up on 'targeted therapy" it can BE very expensive so a top plan is vital. Also keep in mind that many of the drug manufacturers do offer discounts to cancer patients for their particular medication if you meet their guidelines. You'll need to have more testing before you know if you might be a candidate for that type of treatment. I wish you the very best ! Lisa

Thank you and THANKS to everyone who is reaching out to their state Legislators and everyone we can to do ALL we can to make Lung Cancer a TOP Priority.