COVID Lung Cancer Identification

[Tom Galli]

Friday evening's zoom call had a very interesting discussion on where and how to get a COVID vaccination. Of course, the where and how answers are different for each state and perhaps county but the roll out has priorities. COVID vaccination order is generally defined by a number of phases. For example, in Texas, phase 1A are frontline health care workers and residents and employees in long-term health facilities. Phase 1B are people over 65 or people at least 16 years of age with at least one chronic medical condition that puts them at increased risk. The first identified condition is cancer.

Administration sites are not likely to include your cancer treatment facility. Again in Texas, pharmacies are the predominant vaccination location. So how does one not yet 65 prove one's chronic medical condition. Here is an approach.

Write an email to your cancer treatment practice administration office. Include the following template with your personal identifying information in the body of your email. Ask the administration office to copy and paste the identifying information and send it back to you in a return email. Here is my suggested template that you might use (note substitute your personal information for my information in the template).

To Whom It May Concern,

Thomas J. Galli was diagnosed with stage IIIB non small cell lung cancer on February 4, 2004. He is a patient of Texas Oncology Mesquite, TX.  As a lung cancer survivor he has a chronic medical condition that qualifies him for early receipt of the COVID vaccination. His Texas drivers license number is DLGALLI466387. If you have any questions, please contact me at (972) 768-3022.

Terry Barvey

Practice Administrator

Ensure you change the italics text to your unique personal information. Print off the returned completed template and take it with you to the vaccination site.

Stay the course.

Tom

[Rower Michelle]

Thanks Tom!  Today I saw a press release this morning KS is literally bringing up the rear in vaccinations being dead last in the country.  
 

I actually planned to bring my phone & show the pharmacy the patient summary located in MyChart.  Now that medical notes are required to be published, there’s a really nice overview that includes my diagnosis, stage, mutation & therapy all in the first paragraph.  

I’m hoping that’s sufficient evidence but will look forward to hearing how it works out for others   

 

[LexieCat]

At my visit on Friday, my NP (who is postponing her first shot because she's 5 months pregnant and still making up her mind whether to wait till after the baby's born) told me that the Penn cancer center planned to offer the vaccine to all its lung cancer patients as soon as possible. It will probably depend, for me, on whether that happens before it's available to me in NJ. Supposedly in NJ (according to DOH documents) there is no plan in NJ to make anyone "prove" they fall within an eligible category. I suppose that might change. I know my oncologist will support my efforts to get the vaccine at the earliest possible time.