Walgreens Came to My Rescue Today and Gave Me Great Customer Service -- United Healthcare's Specialty Pharmacy SUCKS

Nothing like a bucket of bad customer service to kick me out of my misery. Today, Walgreens was able to solve a problem in about ten minutes that UHC's in-house specialty pharmacy hasn't been able to fix in a week. My local Walgreens pharmacy has come through on so many issues - large and small - over the years that I am VERY pleased to brag about how good they are.

Conversely, there are a couple of meds that I'm required to order through my United Healthcare's (UHC, my health insurance provider) own specialty pharmacy. Although I've spent at least about an hour each day talking to a customer service rep trying to fill the order for my immunosuppressants, the matter is unresolved. Each person was nice, but no one got the job done.

At this point, the whole matter has become a comedy of errors and UHC looks like one of the worst-run companies aaround.

Walgreens, however, has been awesome.

And someone at UHC is going to receive a phone call from me, and (forgive me) shit WILL hit the fan!

Great News for Hepatitis C Patients (Well, for Some of Them)

Along with other people infected with the Hepatitis C virus, I was elated when the FDA approved two new medications - telaprevir and boceprevir - both of which have proven much more effective in achieving sustained virologic response (SVR) than the current course of treatment. For people like me who have genotype 1 Hep C, the hardest to treat, the news is especially good.

Yet I just learned that treatment with one of these new medicaations may not be in my immediate future, if at all. Turns out that immunosuppressants have a negative interaction with the drugs, so liver transplant patients with Hep C can't tolerate them; at least, not for now.

Well, this just sucks. For five years we've waited for these drugs to reach the market, hoping that this would clear my Hep C and give me a chance to be realistically hopefully, and seriously consider the future, make plans, expect to be around for a good long time, enjoy some grandchildren.

But right now, the future just seems dark.

Photo by nikstyles

A HUGE Medical Breakthrough - Stem Cells Used in World's First "Tissue-engineered" Transplant

I've often thought it would be much easier if I could just grow my own replacement liver... and it seems my wish may come true far sooner than expected.

Today's feature article in the British Journal TheLancet.com titled, "Clinical Transplantation of a Tissue-engineered Airway," describes how a 30-year-old Colombian woman whose airway was severely damaged by tuberculosis was transplanted with a windpipe (from a deceased donor) that had been altered with the woman's own stem cells. Although the patient has not taken immunosuppressants since her transplant in June 2008, her immune system has not rejected the transplanted windpipe.

What an advancement! Immunosuppressants are life-savers but they exact a tremendous toll and can cause serious side effects, including high blood pressure, kidney damage, liver damage, increased chances of infection or illness, anemia and/or high blood sugar, to name a few (depending on the immunosuppressant). Some of the side effects don't show up for years and transplant patients must take immunosuppressants for the rest of their lives.

Congratulations to the physicians, researchers and staff at universities in Barcelona, Spain; Padua and Milan in Italy; Bristol, England; and at the Hospital Clinic in Barcelona, all of whom participated in this ground-breaking procedure. Gracias, grazie and thank you.

Another Email from My Husband While I Was in ICU

Monday, December 18, 2006 2:56 p.m. (sent by Gene)

Dear friends,

Anyone who knows my lovely wife knows that she operates on her own unique sense of time, which is a polite way of saying Jay often runs late. And that may explain why her recovery timetable differs from our expectations. At least that's my theory. But if there's one thing I've learned about Jay... it's to just let her do it her way. Might as well because you know she'll get it done right.

It's been two weeks since Jay underwent surgery, and she remains in ICU. But I think we're finally beginning to make some headway and hope to move to an intermediate care floor any day now. Many of you have expressed concern about Jay's long stay in ICU, but rest assured, she's been in stable condition throughout. She's just been stuck in neutral; every time she begins to get better she runs into some complication that stalls her progress. Fortunately, the doctors have witnessed all of Jay's problems before in other patients, and they've been able to find a fix for them out of their liver transplant "playbook."

Last Wed., the doctors performed a tracheotomy to help Jay breathe more easily. She was having a tough time getting off the ventilator but since the procedure has fared much better. Yesterday, she breathed on her own for 6 - 8 hours without any machine assistance! If she can build up her endurance to go 10 hours on back-to-back days, she'll probably ditch the ventilator for good.

A few days ago, Jay's body also exhibited the first signs of rejection. It's a frightening word but something transplant patients will have to deal with for the rest of their lives. Rejection can occur at any time and it can happen quickly or occur gradually. The good news is that there are several immunosuppressive medicines that should manage this problem. The doctors gave Jay some of these meds and they appear to be working well.

All things considered, Jay seems to be doing better. Her trache tube prevents her from talking out loud, but she's trying desperately to communicate. Much to her dismay, neither the nurses nor I can read her lips very well. One day Jay was really jabbering, and I couldn't make out a single word. I suspected that she was in a drug-induced haze and talking gibberish. So I asked her nurse, "Do you think she's lucid?" And before the nurse could reply, Jay shot me an indignant stare. No translation needed. I'll pay for that comment later!

Thanks for all your love and prayers... God bless,

Gene