Devon Breithart

Quick update for now because I'm feeling groggy:

I made it through another chemo infusion!

My CEA is back down to normal limits, which is a great indication that treatment is working.

Yesterday my team asked if I wanted to switch back to Folfox since I've had such a hard time tolerating CapeOx. Folfox is what I was on most of the time last year and typically tolerated pretty well.

I said yes.

The cons are that I'm back on a 2-day pump instead of pills, I'll need to go in every 2 weeks instead of 3, and I'll need to do at least 5 chemo cycles instead of the 4+ that were planned.

The pros are that I hopefully will feel a lot better and less symptomatic in between cycles 🤞

We'll do scans mid-November to see if chemo has worked well enough to move on to radiation.

Thank you for your good vibes and support!

# **alCancerAwareness

Happy birthday to this mischievous, funny, bright spot of sunshine that we loved hosting in Seattle with her momma

Want to hear some insurance nonsense that will make you annoyed with the state of US healthcare? I will end up paying three medical deductibles in the space of 10 months.

Why? Well, this past year I was on a high-deductible insurance plan through my business. It wasn't a great plan, but it was what was available to me as a small business owner, and made the most sense instead of attempting to string together travel therapy company coverage.

The premium was $290 a month for just me. The deductible was $7500 before the benefits kicked in, and then I had to pay an additional $1,050 to meet my out-of-pocket max. Suffice to say, I met both of those within a week of being diagnosed and treated for cancer in March. I'm grateful that hospitals offer payment plans, but I'm still paying that off and will be into 2024. 

So when I started working directly for a school district, I wanted to switch to their insurance because it tends to be pretty good. I found a plan with a monthly premium of $86, a deductible of $125, and an out-of-pocket max of $2000. A savings of ~9000 a year? Yeah, I'll take it. 

I figured I'd finish up this year with my personal plan since I'd already met my deductible, and then switch to the district insurance in 2024. But when it came time to fill out paperwork, it was brought to my attention that my current plan, for some reason, would end a month early on November 30th 2023 instead of December 31st. Why did they run the plan years that way? No clue. 

Obviously, when you have cancer, you can't really go without insurance coverage. It was still cheaper to go ahead and switch to the school plan, but because my surgery is December 8th, I will end up paying the entire yearly deductible this month. And then, in January when the deductible resets, I will end up meeting that very quickly as well with my follow-up care. 

(Continued in comments)

**alCancer