Update

Iva is still at the hospital. Friday she underwent a small procedure to drain the abscess that has been causing her fever, and left a tube in to drain any remaining fluid. She is doing well and we hope that this will improve her ability to sit more comfortably.

Tomorrow Zoran and I are going into the hospital to fight for Iva. Friday we met with the business center who gave us the cost estimate. Not only was the price outrageous, but they want 80% of if up front. They told us that the prices were the self-pay prices, and the 80% was required because she is a self-pay patient.

What that means is that if you don't have insurance, then you are required to fork over almost all of your cost up front, and you get charged more for each item/service than the person who has insurance. It is a double whammy.

So the way they figure the cost is by every 2 cycles of chemotherapy, which is a 6 week period consisting of 5 days of chemo, 2 weeks rest, repeat once, and then CTs and such to re-stage the cancer. For each of these 6 week cycles, they want $122,000! That means for someone with Iva's needs, if she were to get the amount of chemo she needs (40 weeks), she would be paying over $1 million. And that is if everything goes smoothly without hospitalization, surgeries, or other unforseen events. Before they will begin treatment on Monday, they want us to give them about $100,000. Who has that much cash available to them? And what is worse is that you are dealing with a patient who has no financial means, who is supported through friends and family, and who is from a country that doesn't have the medical resources to care for her. What is wrong with this picture?

We offered to make payments on her bills, but they refused. Their suggestion? Can't she go back home and get treatment?

MD Anderson has a slogan, "Making Cancer History." Apparently, they will make cancer history only for those patients who have deep pockets.

This is why tomorrow we are going to talk to as many people as we can to tell them Iva's story and how ridiculous they are being. All we ask is for a fair price and a reasonable schedule of payment. Oh yeah, and just the little thing of them saving her life.