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Dave is the love of my life, who has a kind and caring heart.
He married in 2009 and became the step-father to 4 children and soon had 3 rescue dogs too.
Dave was born with a birth defect to his hand, arm and the right side of his chest. This did not stop Dave from being an active kid with dreams of being a professional baseball player when he grew up. By middle school, Dave was diagnosed with Epilepsy and by his early twenties he developed type 1 diabetes.
It seems that life has thrown a lot at Dave but with each new struggle, Dave keeps a positive attitude and finds ways to adjust and thrive.
In February 2015, just days after his 50th birthday, it was discovered, through a midnight trip to the ER, that Dave’s kidneys were shutting down and he would need immediate dialysis and would need to be put onto the organ transplant list.
In just 12 short weeks, Dave had three hospital stays, one surgery, 5 new medicines, and now has to have 4 CAPD treatments a day to keep his kidneys functioning until he can get a new kidney(s) in the next few years.
Hidden Cost of Dialysis
I have had several people make the comment to me, “What’s the big deal? Once you meet your health insurance deductable your insurance will cover everything else.”
That is not the case. Here are just some examples of what isn’t covered.
* Neither of us have had a full paycheck since February 2015.
* Both of us lost an entire week's pay to be in Lincoln daily for CAPD Dialysis training. ($3000 for the class and the monthly visit for lab work is $4000 monthly)
* In the first 6 weeks I have put over 5,000 miles on my car. (Gas, wear and tear, oil change)
* Sometime, hopefully soon, the transplant team in Omaha will contact us and we will be making daily trips to Omaha for a week of testing to determine if Dave is a viable candidate for a transplant.
* Most health insurance companies only cover 60 treatments for dialysis. Dave needs 4 treatments a day. So after 15 days our insurance won’t cover the treatments.
* We can get Medicare due to dialysis but the treatments are not covered under Part A (free part) so we will need to buy Part B and Part D. This is an added $200 a month.
* Of course these parts (B & D) either only cover 80% or will not cover everything.
* Dave has to have monthly lab work. Our 20% cost is $1,600.00. At this time, I am not sure if our family insurance will cover this or if they will lump it in with our 60 covered treatments.
* Dialysis requires special dietary needs that were not a part of our food budget before but now they are things we HAVE to have.
* Then there are some things that dialysis causes in the body that insurance doesn’t cover that we have to pay full price for since they can be bought over the counter. Sure these are only $20 here and there but all of these ‘here and theres’ are adding up on an already staining budget.
These are not just needs and supplies for a short term illness like the flu. These are things that will be needed for a long haul.
Day after Day
Week after Week
Month after Month
Hopefully not Years
I hope this helps you understand some of what we and others with long-term health concerns go through.
He married in 2009 and became the step-father to 4 children and soon had 3 rescue dogs too.
Dave was born with a birth defect to his hand, arm and the right side of his chest. This did not stop Dave from being an active kid with dreams of being a professional baseball player when he grew up. By middle school, Dave was diagnosed with Epilepsy and by his early twenties he developed type 1 diabetes.
It seems that life has thrown a lot at Dave but with each new struggle, Dave keeps a positive attitude and finds ways to adjust and thrive.
In February 2015, just days after his 50th birthday, it was discovered, through a midnight trip to the ER, that Dave’s kidneys were shutting down and he would need immediate dialysis and would need to be put onto the organ transplant list.
In just 12 short weeks, Dave had three hospital stays, one surgery, 5 new medicines, and now has to have 4 CAPD treatments a day to keep his kidneys functioning until he can get a new kidney(s) in the next few years.
Hidden Cost of Dialysis
I have had several people make the comment to me, “What’s the big deal? Once you meet your health insurance deductable your insurance will cover everything else.”
That is not the case. Here are just some examples of what isn’t covered.
* Neither of us have had a full paycheck since February 2015.
* Both of us lost an entire week's pay to be in Lincoln daily for CAPD Dialysis training. ($3000 for the class and the monthly visit for lab work is $4000 monthly)
* In the first 6 weeks I have put over 5,000 miles on my car. (Gas, wear and tear, oil change)
* Sometime, hopefully soon, the transplant team in Omaha will contact us and we will be making daily trips to Omaha for a week of testing to determine if Dave is a viable candidate for a transplant.
* Most health insurance companies only cover 60 treatments for dialysis. Dave needs 4 treatments a day. So after 15 days our insurance won’t cover the treatments.
* We can get Medicare due to dialysis but the treatments are not covered under Part A (free part) so we will need to buy Part B and Part D. This is an added $200 a month.
* Of course these parts (B & D) either only cover 80% or will not cover everything.
* Dave has to have monthly lab work. Our 20% cost is $1,600.00. At this time, I am not sure if our family insurance will cover this or if they will lump it in with our 60 covered treatments.
* Dialysis requires special dietary needs that were not a part of our food budget before but now they are things we HAVE to have.
* Then there are some things that dialysis causes in the body that insurance doesn’t cover that we have to pay full price for since they can be bought over the counter. Sure these are only $20 here and there but all of these ‘here and theres’ are adding up on an already staining budget.
These are not just needs and supplies for a short term illness like the flu. These are things that will be needed for a long haul.
Day after Day
Week after Week
Month after Month
Hopefully not Years
I hope this helps you understand some of what we and others with long-term health concerns go through.