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needhope

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Hi Everyone,

My dad met with his doctor today to go over his scan results. I was expecting Avastin to be a wonder drug and show a significant regression in his tumors and allow him to stay on the drug for a while instead of shooting all his bullets at once. I guess I should be thankful that things are stable with one tumor shrinking verrrry slightly. And I really am :) . But, I don't know, I was just hoping for more of an impact.

Well, his doctor is temporarily taking him off the chemo and giving him just Tarceva (150 mg) for a month to see if his tumors shrink. From previous posts, I have noticed that, in the beginning, Tarceva has been given mostly with other chemo and not given by itself until some improvement was shown. Anyone's thoughts on this? Does this seem aggressive enough?

Adding to the frustration is the fact that his pharmacist told him it would cost over $3500 (Is this the full cost or at a discount :( ) for a month's supply. He has prescription coverage through Caremark and is calling them tomorrow to verify and see what they can do. For those of you who took Tarceva, how did you pay for it? It's frustrating enough dealing with this disease but having to sift through this insurance when all you want to do is LIVE just adds more agony to the situation.

Sincerely,

Rochelle

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Stable is a good result. I am on Tarceva alone, but haven't yet had a test to see if it's effective.

My prescription plan pays for the Tarceva, except for a $40 co-payment.

If your Dad's plan doesn't cover Tarceva, you might want to contact the drug company and see if they have a program for distribution. It's Genetech.

Good luck

Mary

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I am also on Tarceva alone and have had excellent results for 21 months now!! I pay a $45.00 co pay after the insurance. Genentech does have a program set up to help thsoe that can't get the medication..

GOD BLESS AND PRAYERS!!

Jamie

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Well, I am feeling better this morning than yesterday about the situation. I absolutely THANK GOD that there wasn't any growth. Things could have been a lot worse. Also my dad is still eating everything but the kitchen sink and he has gained a couple of pounds. He is now at 180, which is good. I am going to contact Genentech about their program. Thanks for the input.

Sincerely,

Rochelle

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Rochelle,

Also, is Dad on disability?

If so I would think the meds should be covered. If not, why not look into disability benefits. Several here have posted that cancer patients can receive these benefits...I'm not sure what the exact qualifications are.

Also, if he is insured already, there is NO WAY the insurance won't cover it. They should have a health advocate (the insurance should) who can help you...my mother when she had breast cancer, the ins company tried to only pay half (as the cancer was only in one breast but she wanted bilateral mastechtomy) but the health advocate got the insurance co to pay the other half as well.

Something to consider.

Best of luck.

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Rochelle,

Actually Tarceva is not recommended to be taken with other chemo as a first line treatment. Their web site states that it is to be used after at least one failure of chemo. Recently it has been given with other drugs. When I started my chemo I was given Tarceva at the same time. This was not the norm. Here is a question from the Terceva web site:

Q. When in my treatment regimen can Tarceva be used?

A. Tarceva is approved as "monotherapy" (it is used without chemotherapy) for second- and third-line use for the treatment of NSCLC patients. This means that your doctor can prescribe Tarceva after one chemotherapy regimen

You can look around this web site and get a lot of info.

http://www.tarceva.com/tarceva/patient/ ... faq.jsp#q6

Tarceva has worked very well as a monotherapy with a lot of people. The cost of Tarceva 100mg is about $2500 for 30 tablets. 150mg may cost more. My insurance covered all except the co-pay $60. If you get three months at once you have an additional saving. On the Tarceva web site there is a place to go for financial help

I hope this info helps. Let me know if I you have any questions that I may be able to answer. We will pray your dad has the same results as I did.

Stay positive, :)

Ernie

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My mom was on Tarceva alone for almost a year, and it kept everything stable suring that time. She had no drug insurance, and the drug company provided it for her for free. With the new Medicare drug plan, I don't know how they do that now. The dr office set everything up for Mom.

:) Kelly

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Good News,

Dad spoke with the insurance company today. There was a mix-up. The insurance agent said that it won't cost anything. Just talked to Mom and his spirits are up. He's been frying fish and cooking greens for the past hour 8) . Thanks for the well wishes. I'm praying that Tarceva does the trick.

Sincerely,

Rochelle

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