My Cancer Journey: Part 7

When we last left off, I had just finished up with my surgery and I was waiting for my follow up appointment with the doctor.

If you recall, it was a pretty short recovery time, and I was back to work within two days. In the meantime, I was getting started on all of my insurance paperwork.

A couple of years prior to all of this, a representative came into the place my wife and I work and offered a supplemental cancer policy. Due to the area that I grew up in (large chemical company town), we thought it would be a good idea to sign up for that. This policy would then help offset any costs that might not be covered by our regular insurance.

This brings me to my public service announcement for this post: If you ever sign up for one of these supplemental policies, make sure you know exactly what you are getting.

You need to remember that the people offering these policies are salespeople, it is up to you to do your homework to make sure you know what you are getting.

Some policies offer an initial diagnosis benefit (basically, you get a payout if you are diagnosed with cancer) as part of the package. With other companies that benefit is a separate rider, you have to pay more for.

Additionally, there are many things that you would think should be covered that are actually not. Also a lot of times, you only get paid out if the cancer is a certain kind, so just make sure you read the policy multiple times, so you know what you are getting. If you have questions don't be afraid to ask, but remember they are ultimately there to sell you something.

Moving on

While we were waiting for the follow-up appointment, the pathology came back from my tumor and I was able to file my first claim with the supplemental insurance company.

Based on the pathology report, the tumor was indeed cancerous (a mere technicality, the doctor had all but verified that) and it was very large. The report showed that at its largest dimension the tumor on my testicle measured 8cm.

For reference, the largest dimension of an average adult testicle is 5cm. My wife was certainly right when she said "baby, that's not normal" several months ago to start this process.

My appointment date finally came and I went in to see the urologist. He was very happy with how the incision was healing and was ready to refer me to an oncologist. He ordered a new blood test to check those tumor indicators and he also wanted me to get a chest x-ray and pelvis/abdomen CT scan to check for any other obvious signs of cancer.

It was time to play the waiting game again, but I had a lot of tests to get done before my first appointment with the oncologist. You will find out all about that next time when I continue my journey. Thanks for stopping in, the support from everyone reading this has been so uplifting and helpful for my spirit. I appreciate it!

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