Mix of News

Greetings, friends of Kristina! I hope you are all doing well.


Medical Update

Kristina is experiencing a mix of news these days. Medically, things are going pretty well. Her bone marrow aspiration showed “No abnormal myeloblasts, monocyte or maturing myeloid populations identified.” In plain English, that means there was no disease present, which obviously is good.

At the same time, she is back on her IV fluids for a short time because some blood levels were a little off. Basically, what's happening right now is the docs peeling her off her meds, but as you're peeling off the first batch of meds, various things that those meds were taking care of start popping up. This is fairly normal, but it is a fine dance between pulling her off the meds but keeping her body healthy. You don’t want to get off the meds too soon, because the body might not be ready to take over, but you also don't want to wait too long.

Along those lines, her appetite has dropped, she has a weird taste in her mouth, her energy level is very low, her sleep patterns are wacky, and she has to deal with two hours of the IV every day. That's a hassle, because she has to be at home when the IV runs out.


Financial and Personal Update

What's really tough right now is some serious and scary hassles she is having with her health insurance. It's a long story, but basically there are five agencies involved with her insurance, and it appears that one of them made a mistake, causing all of her insurance to be canceled. It has since been re-instated, but not fully or correctly, so she is now dealing, every day, with a maze of phone calls and regulations and who knows what, while incredible bills into the six-figure range start to stack up. She says she's actually afraid to face her mail every day.

She's a little overwhelmed by the amount of stuff to take care of, and by the bills. It may have been a while since most of us thought about all of this, but maybe now's a good time to make a call or a visit, write a check, or somehow express some support. She would love to hear from you, no matter what.