Already a member? Sign in
What - Inspire is a place where you can connect with people who share your health concerns and find information and advice in groups sponsored by organizations you know and trust.
Why - As a member you can use Inspire to let friends and family know how you're doing, contact others who share your health concerns, receive personalized updates and information about participating in surveys and clinical trials, and more.
How - Joining Inspire is completely free and usually takes less than a minute. Join now!
My sister just underwent surgery for ovarian cancer. Started treatment of Taxol, and suffered severe reaction, seizures, etc.
Information is sketchy, but apparently the alternative chemo treatment needs special authorization from insurance company? Would anyone have any idea as to what drug might be next?
Just trying to come up to speed on this, so I can be as supportive as possible.
Thanks.
Cancer Taxol Surgery Avastin Seizures Breast cancer Ovarian cancer Taxotere Pain Carboplatin
What about Carboplatin? That is usually given with Taxol so it is a common chemo drug and insurance always covers it I assume.
Taxol has several cousins that are somtimes given if Taxol is bad.........Taxotere is one.
There are several common drugs that her insurance shouldn't have a problem with.......Gemzar, Doxil, Topotecan. and several others that I can't name right off the top of my head.
Avastin is the one that some insurance companies balk at.
Sounds like her Oncologist isn't too much on top of this.......
Jeanie
Is your sister going to a gyn/oncologist? Has she spoken to the oncologist yet? They usually know which drugs the insurance company allows. What about a clinical trial?
Only her oncologist can answer a question like this - not any of us. There are so many drugs out there and she'd need to get whichever one can best treat her condition. I'm sure there are plenty that don't need special authorization from her insurance provider, especially since she is just starting out In my experience, all chemos have been covered with no problem - I've had 4 different ones and will be getting the 5th type next week.
She needs to have a good talk with her oncologist since that is the person deciding on and monitoring her cancer treatment. If she's not happy with her oncologist (an important person in our lives), she should seek out another one
Thanks for the replies. No, Gyn/Onc not involved yet, just an Oncologist.
FavoriteAunt is right, that was too complex a question.
Yesterday, I didn't understand how many different types of ovarian cancers there are, which leads to an almost exponential number of courses of treatment.
yes it is taxotere. the same exact thing happened to me . taxotere does the same job except its mixed in a different chemical that does not cause that severe allergic reaction that alot of people end up being allergic to. the side effects end up being alot better.... you dont get that really bad bone pain anymore too!!
The alternative to the taxol could be Abraxane. I had a reaction to the first drop of taxol. The Abraxane is currently a chemo approved for breast cancer. It still contains taxol but does not have the carrier that taxol does that people react to, it is bound to a human protien albumin for transport.
The hospital would not administer until they could get approval from the insurance company but they also got approval that if the insurance wouldn't cover it that the drug company would cover the cost.
Again, thanks for the responses.
Wanting you to know that I am reading, and sharing with my sister.
Add to the discussion