February 1, 2002|
Celebration Dinners! Celebrate this weekend!
Preliminary reports are in and WE GOT FUNDED!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 LOL!!! Ha ah! Look for an update on Monday with more details! Thanks for all your hard work, prayers and time! Look for more news on Monday.
More information on Mini-Transplants for your reading interests. I don’t know about you, but after reading these articles, I am pretty psyched!
http://www.fhcrc.org/pubs/center_news/2001/sep7/sart2.html
http://www.ich.ucl.ac.uk/patients_fam/collins/columns/mini_bone_marrow_trans.htm
http://www.bmtnews.org/newsletters/issue47/mini.html#back1
http://health.medscape.com/cx/viewarticle/218801
http://www.curehodgkins.com/hodgkins_resources/mini_transplant.htm
CIGNA ADDRESS AND FAX:
Here’s who to mail and fax your complaints to (notice the new zip code, Cigna had the wrong zip code on all of their stationary! I wonder why?):
Attn: Margaret White, RN, BSN
Cigna Healthcare
Transplant Unit
3200 Park Lane Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15275-1117
Fax: 412.747.7090
WHAT YOU CAN DO…
Update: The CPP is up and fully operational. A few important notes:
1. Before you do anything, please reflect, meditate, and/or pray. Make sure you fully understand not only my position (wanting to live!) and your position, but also the position of all the parties involved (hospital, my employer, insurance company, etc.). Especially remember that the doctors and managers who work for Cigna are human, and therefore deserve grace. While we all want to fight for justice and against wrongdoing, we also need to be seasoned with understanding, empathy and courtesy (see my past two letters for more on this subject).
2. If you have any questions, concerns or ideas feel free to contact me. Be aware, though, that it is taking a little longer than normal for me to respond to e-mail correspondences. I will get back to you, just give me time.
3. It is really easy to assume that ‘someone else will do the job.’ I get caught up in that thinking all the time, and for me that could literally be deadly. Unless otherwise instructed, assume that you are the only person doing the job. (This is a reminder to me, more than anybody.)
My news:
Things aren’t getting any better. Despite recent chemotherapy treatments, I am having an increase in pain and soreness in my chest and back. I spent most of yesterday and today battling a painkiller-induced hangover. This truly has been the most challenging test I have ever faced. At first it was just a mental and emotional exercise in management, vision and communication. Now the physical side has been added, further complicating the matter. I need prayer. I need help. Two years back I would have been too prideful (and immature) to ask for either. I now know better. I can do nothing without either and I humbled. Thank you in advance.
January 25, 2002
LATEST NEWS: DINGED AGAIN!
At 5:30pm we didn’t have an answer. At 6:30pm it came. The call. Dr. Perales, the Bone Marrow Transplant Specialist called with the news. Once again, Cigna denied the appeal, based upon the procedure being too “experimental.”
Why is it too “experimental?” My guess is that too few participants have done this procedure. It has good results so far, 3 out of 6 patients at Sloan-Kettering who were in similiar situations, in terms of relapsed Hodgkin’s Disease, responded positively. It is a small number though, statistically speaking. I imagine Cigna wants case numbers in triple digits.
Ways to Respond
The human/natural response to such is outrage. “Let’s get violent!” Baseball bats have been brandished and fists have been clenched. “Let’s get the bastards!” It’s what first comes out, isn’t it? “How could any company, anyone, potentially stand in the way of giving someone a chance to live if they have the means? How could they be so cheap? How could they do this to Art?” (swing, swing, smash, smash!)
Here’s the deal though. Yeah, I am unhappy. Yeah, I am a little frustrated. Yeah, I am even miffed. But you know what, I am going to get this transplant. It’s not a matter of “if”, it’s a matter of “how” and “when.” We have the resources. We do. You all have called and e-mailed. You’ve gotten me in touch with people. You’ve helped me develop “The Contingency Plan of Persuasion” (hereby, the CPP). I am not worried, not one bit frankly, and neither should you be. We are going to get this, it is just a matter of the “hows” and the “whens.”
Being “Masters of Persuasion”
I’m a lover, not a fighter…that’s what my personality profiles say. I am a collaborator, not a competitor…according to conflict style surveys. I’m a harmonizer…that’s what the the strengths test in “Now Discover Your Strengths” tells. I am a “man of persuasion”…at least that’s what my mommy says. She says I can BS anyone to do anything I want them to.
While other college kids were taking their nice fluffy liberal arts classes, I purposefully took “Negotiations” and “Getting People to Do What You Want Them to Do” (a.k.a. Education 508: Managing People- great class, Professor Dwyer is amazing). And I learned. Oh baby I learned. Competition, yelling, screaming, negativity never got anyone anywhere. Us vs. them mentality only hurts you (except for the Steeler/Patriot game on Sunday). Finding common ground and working to make the pie bigger through mutual collaboration. That’s the way to go.
In this type of situation, this what I think we need. This is a time to work with Cigna and persuade them. (I don’t mean “persuade” like the way us Italians use it. Example: “Guido, go and “persuade” the man to pay his bills on time. And don’t forget your Louisville Slugger.” “Fuggetabboutit.”) I actually mean persuade. It may take some different avenues, but eventually we will find the right one.
Here are the avenues according to the CPP:
– Public Health Advocates
– Attorneys
– Business friends
– Political friends
– Media exposure
– Doctor friends
All of the above have been contacted, but we could always use more help. Write me with suggestions.
Monday we will hear from our advisors on how to get this rolling. Look for another update then.
Final Words
Personally, if I am going down, I am going down fighting. And no one is going to fight harder or more passionately. I didn’t eat all evening till I forced myself to run to the deli and grab a fake reuben (they used turkey. weird.) at 10pm. I was too busy e-mailing, calling and planning the ways we can get this pushed through in the shortest period of time. No time to eat, I can eat all want when I am in hospital.
But, like I emphasized before, I don’t want this to be a slugfest. If anything, I want Cigna to say, “What the heck? He never slammed us once! And neither did his people. Shouldn’t he be against us?” I want them to be confused. I want massive amounts of cognitive dissonance (Education 508). I want them to see that I/we are different than any other case they’ve dealt with. Not to be cheesy, but I/we want to show understanding, compassion and love. Who knows- someone’s job could be on the line? Who knows what the doctors and case workers who are dealing with this are up against? My/our attitude can make a difference in how this plays out.
This all starts with me. Not easy. I am the fall guy in this all, I need to be the example. Two years ago, when I first was diagnosed, no way. “Let’s go crack some skulls!” would have been my mantra. Me now? I am a little more empathetic. Why? Because of what I have gone through, what I have seen, what I have experienced and most importantly the people who have been empathetic with me. I see the love I have been shown, and dang it, I want to be mirror, reflecting it back. And not just in the easy situations, but in the situations where it is hardest to. That’s the true test. I hope and pray I can live up to those standards.
Trust me. I am going to get this transplant. It’s going to take work. It’s going to take time. It’s going to take prayer. It’ll all be worth it. I know it.