Sorry to hear about your wife Jim. She is in my prayers.

Jim, I am so sorry to hear that. Really, really sorry.

i am so sorry to hear about those results Jim... i wish i knew how to use better words ( i know how to express my feelings in dutch, but you cant read that) to say what i feel about your message....

Oh Jim ... I'm so sorry to hear your hard news :(

Please know that you and your wife are in my thoughts and prayers as you travel this very difficult road. Stay strong during this difficult time!

I know it's very hard beacause I'm going through a similar situation myself right now, but remember that hope and positive thinking always helps!

I really hope that everything will turn up all right in the end.

Very sorry to hear this news, Jim. All my best to you, Victoria, and your family. You'll be in my thoughts.

Life just doesn't seem fair sometimes, if i had any luck at all i'd donate it to you and your lovely wife Jim.

All the very best to you both. :)

We finally have an update. Damn, I really didn't say much in that first post did I?

I am going to try to keep this short. The dizziness is being caused by cancer going to my wife's brain lining and spine. There have since been a lot more problems than just being dizzy. It seems that there is only 1 treatment available and that is in clinical trial at Sloane Kettering in NYC. And, that treatment is only available if there were antigens attached to the cancer cells. 25 days or so ago they took a lymph node and sent it to NYC to see if these antigens were there. We were told it was about a 10 day turn around and we found out the day before yesterday (well over 20 days) that the antigen was there.

I was told when I found out that we would have details in about 4 days after our insurance approved the trial. That's where we are....

I have no idea how this will work. I know it involves a 9 week hospital stay but I don't know really how long we will be in NYC. I am guessing about 3 months but I could be way off. We could be leaving as soon as Monday but I suspect the following week for some reason.

Obviously "scarce" is not the word to use while there. I think the word would be "gone" or at least, "very scarce". I did purchase a new laptop for the trip(s) but still... I think there may be more pressing things going on.

Wow, I'm sorry to hear about the depth of the situation, but good luck with the trial.

If there's anything you need help with to keep the board running, I'm sure you'll have plenty of volunteers.

tough times, i know a friend of mine going thru the same thing, they are in an other country now already for 8 weeks to deal with it. I hope all goes fine and good luck

So sorry to read how much the cancer has spread that is very sad. I wish your wife the best with the new treatment. Take care of yourself also Jim.

All the best wishes Jim, hope for the best.

We all pray for the best.

Sorry to hear that..
but know that Sloan Kettering is the premiere cancer research hospital in the country so the care she'll get will be top of the line.
We will all be hoping for the very best for you and Victoria.

Second best according to US News :) But, that is close enough because the Doctor we will be seeing is the number 1 skin cancer doctor in the country.

Sorry to hear that Jim, but glad she is is getting the best treatment out there.

Sorry to hear Jim
been going through the same crap with my Dad for the last couple years

Ouch it is real sad... but the trial is a chance and a good one. :(

And, the insurance just gave us a conditional approval. Not sure what that really means but it seems they don't want to pay for the first night at the hospital. |huh

They said they will pay for anything medically needed. We will know when we are going on Monday.

All good wishes for success with the trial, and for the easiest possible time for you both while you're there.

Sloan-Kettering and the Anderson Cancer Center in Texas are so far above the others they may as well both be #1.

I know :) I have been doing a ton of research since the day Sloan-Kettering was mentioned. And for skin cancer, it really is the best place to be if you have to be at a place like that.

And I really have to hand it to my insurance company. Dealing with the makes me think Michael Moore was full of shit. Our insurance company not only approved this "out of network" huge expense in less than a day but when we started with them, they didn't care about the pre-existing cancer and they even backdated our membership to cover gamma knife surgery.

Welllll having tried to switch insurance companies and got denied with two different insurance companies due to pre existing very mild asthma, Michael Moore isn't full of shit on most companies.

May I ask who you are with? Maybe I can get a quote from them and save us some money. MadHatter and I pay alot for ours and to get our rates as low as they are we have a 5,0000 deductible a peice. :(

And good luck to you and your wife, she has been in my prayers for awhile. I'm so sorry that is happening to you.

All the best to you both on the trial, would be great to hear it's been a success.

I think the problems come from people getting insurance on their own without a group. All local chambers of commerce offer health insurance. And when you get it from them, you are considered an employee. The only information the insurance company asked for after I paid our chamber $100 to join was Name and SSN.

If you join alone, insurance companies can charge you any amount they choose and even have a $5000 deductible. To do that to you while you are in a group, they have to charge the entire group the same.

I would love for everyone to be able to use our insurance company but it's only available to people in Central New York.

Is that NY apple or something like that??? I remember we had them (or something apple related in the name) and they were excellent. We had 2 employees and multiple family members and it was still fairly resaonable. .

RC: One of my son's friends is in the biz here and swears he can get me a great policy at reasonable rates. It remains to be seen. However our only pre-existing condition is fat. Who knows how that might effect our deductible/monthly payments. |huh If it's any good i'll email you. I think NV is one of the few states that has no uninsured pool and offers a state policy. |banghead|

It's MVP Healthcare. It has an apple in the logo but that's it. NY doesn't have a pool either but they have a law that says if you are insured for 11 months, you can't be turned down by anyone. We were not insured for 11 months and just got lucky, I guess. I mean, damn...we had the pre-existing condition of cancer.

I have seen stories of people that get insurance on their own and when something happens, their rates go as high as $50k/month. I am willing to pay the $100/year to be part of a large group.