Military Cancer Care
Comments
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There seem to be many people who are military (active or retired) here at BC.ORG. Since we have some unique issues such as our insurance carrier or getting farmed out for treatment(s), I thought it might be helpful to start this thread to offer support to our sisters and brothers. This is not a place to dump/rant about the system but maybe it could be a place to offer assistance for negotiating the military red tape.
8 May edit: When I started this thread, I was having a struggle and one of those infamous "bad days" we all have and thought talking about military health care would help. I realize that now that any major illness is stressful and dealing with ANY insurance co. during that illness is a new and difficult road to negotiate.
I know that I have been blessed by this thread. I'm seeing that what helps is the feeling of cameraderie of people who understand the military lifestyle. Whether active duty, retired or family member we have shared a common thread and now, we share another. Thank you to all my military family for the virtual shoulder on which to lean.
Dx 7/9/2007, IDC -
I am the wife of a retired USAF. We are in central Virginia and are enrolled in Tricare Prime. I have been going to Bethesda NNMC for my initial care and surgery. With the chemo and radiation though, I have asked for a referral to UVA Medical Center in our town. Its much closer and more convenient. The care I have received to date at Bethesda NNMC has been outstanding, and if it weren't for the distance, I wouldn't consider transferring.
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I am AD USAF and stationed overseas in Japan. I was diagnosed on the 12th of March and have since been sent to Tripler for treatment. My family to include my in-laws are all in the DC area. I would love to be near them as I endure the next year. Initially, I was scheduled to have surgery on the 25th of April but things changed at the last minute and I am now scheduled to have a bilateral mastectomy on the 15th of May. I am a mother of two little boys, ages 4 and 13 months. My husband is not mil and has devoted his life to taking care of us. I feel that I am being unfair as he should be able to go back to work and live a semi-normal life as we battle with cancer. With our "temporary move to Hawaii" we are living temporarily.....in lodging, no school for the kids, and no work for my husband. This is the first time that I've expressed these feelings openly. Ultimately, I'm wondering if I should ask to have my treatments on mainland USA to be with our family for support and so that my husband and kids and continue to live a normal life as we battle together with cancer.
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Positive Change,
AW, shucks, that really stinks, if you can't be with your family while you are undergoing treatment.My dh is retired Navy, but he was still AD when I was dx'd, last year. He was stationed in DC, so I was here in NC alone. But, my MIL is living down here, in SC, now, so she was able to take me for dr. appts, and my first two txs. I got alot closer with her after my bc dx. She is 79 y.o. now!
Anyway, just wanted to check in, and to say that I think it would be a wonderful idea if we could get a permanent thread for military families, as I have 'met' a few women who are military on bc.org. It would be nice to have a place to go and discuss our unique situation.
I do think that it would also be nice to have others to talk to who understand the complexities of Tricare insurance, and while I think it would be great to have a constructive area to go for advice, I believe that it also helps to have a place to vent, when things are not going so well, with the insurance situation... even though I am usually very positive, IMHO, it still helps to vent sometimes, because where I live, it is kind of far to a MTF... and NONE of the drs. here are 'in network' with Tricare!!I think that you have to email or pm the moderators, in order to get them to start a thread of this kind...
Hugs,
Harley
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Personally, I think we owe you all a great deal of gratitude for your service (whether you or your family are in the services), SO THANK YOU, each of you.
As for your insurance and needing a special area for, you have my support with the forums, go for it!
But I do so want to say, that I feel it's important too, for those of us who are NOT military to understand the hoops you must jump through, to get care when you are on military insurance programs. I know of a few people in our family who have to travel over 2 hours to get any type of care and I think that's just NUTTY when they live in areas with regional hospitals and many docs. And me, personally, I'd pay extra taxes to take care of our men, women and families who have fought or are fighting for our freedoms. I think it's the least WE can do to support the military. Good Luck in your tx's ladies!
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PositiveChange,
Have you discussed a compassionate reassignment with your chaplain or doctors? You might check with Tripler's Social Worker and see if she can get some things in place for you and your family to establish some sense of normalcy until you find out more about reassignment. My military SW was a Godsend and helped me so much.
To me, the emotional stuff was much harder to deal with than the physical treatment. Anything you can do to establish a routine for your husband and children will make it so much better for you during treatment. PM me if you need to just talk. God Bless.
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wishiwere,
Thanks!
I don't want to say that military insurance is harder to deal with, because I know some others are also having lots of insurance problems.
AFTER my bi-lateral mast., since I was in the hospital overnight, I was assigned a case manager to help me get through all those insurance hoops that we all have to jump thorugh. It was good, and my case manager was a real doll!! But, she quit, so I was reassigned, and these new case managers just really don't care, and they are not much help at all. I don't know WHAT I would have done without Monica, because she got me through my 'active treatment'.
txgrl, you are right... the emotional stuff is just SO hard to get through!! I know that everyone thinks if we are not in treatment now, then we are OK, and everything is fine... but things will never be back to "normal" again.
Thanks for the idea of a thread for military... I guess you'll need to pm the moderators... I would definitely post there, if they werer to start a forum...
Harley
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I really like the idea of a military thread. I came upon this conversation by searching "military".
I have mentioned to my Cancer Team that I would like to go to mainland to be with my family. It is possible, they just need to find a doctor that will be willing to take my case. The only downfall is that Tripler has an amazing team. I'm beginning to build a great relationship with everyone and enjoy what we're developing. However, I know at the end of the day, they will not be the one's helping me to take care of my kids. That's why I want to go back home.
Thus far, I have no complaints on how my case is handled. It does suck not having my own here. As I mentioned in the previous message, everything is "temporary". We have a rental car and living in lodging. If we were able to just PCS here, I would be happy with that too.
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Hi My husband re-tired from the navy 20 years in.I have tricare west and nock on would have not had any problems with treatment.I have had 6 months of kemo 7 weeks of radiation and three surgerys in 4 months and tricare has paid most of all my claims.I was dx june 19th 2007 of breastcancer.I'm 43 2 small kids.I'm stage 2 with node involvment.I'm tomoxifene now.We moved from greatlakes IL and then I get dx.Godbless roxy
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Hi all -
I'm retired USAF. I had been using the VA, that's where my lump was found on an annual gyn check. They immediately sent me to a civilian breast center for biopsy and it was BC. My surgery was scheduled at the VA but they could not do the wire-guided procedure they felt was necessary. I was lucky to be employed with insurance so I went to a civilian hospital much closer to my home where the surgeon who would have done it at the VA operates. He is truly outstanding - I will never let any friends who may develop cancer go to anyone else! And my plastic surgeon also operates periodically at the VA and is also outstanding. I have been very fortunate in all this. If I had not gotten started at the VA, I can't imagine things would have turned out so well for me!
I never used Tricare Prime so can't help on that, but I can say that Medicare and Tricare for Life seem to be working quite well.
Minz
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Positive, is there any possiblity that you could get change-of-station orders for Hawaii? Or does your MOS preclude that? I know that Tripler was a great hospital when we lived there so I'm glad to hear that you have a good medical team. You are right about your family though. There are some folks in place to help you with a plan. (like the SW I mentioned earlier) There are alot of people that will help you during this crunch time.
Take care and stay in touch.
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Just found this thread and wanted to chip in and say that my hubby is retired from 20 years active duty in the Navy, and we have Tricare prime. We live in the Seattle/Tacoma area. I am now disabled so i also have Medicare, but i have had some of my surgeries for bc at the military hospitals in our area with no complaints. I will keep checking this thread .
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Hi! I just found this military thread. My husband just retired dromUSAF after 24 years. We have Tricare Prime also. I had a mammo in Nov and my gyn wanted an MRI bcs of family hx. It was not approved until April. That was when they found my BC. I think I am lucky, bcs if it was done back in Nov., it might not have been found then. I am having a lumpectomy tomorrow on base, but my onc and my plastic surgeon are civilian. I had a delay to get my genetic counseling. Hope to get my BRCA drawn next week. I am waiting approval. My son has Hogkin's lymphoma and his surgeries were all on base, no problems. His onc is retired military and knows how to jumpm through hoops. Hope it continues to be this easy.
D
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Hello all! Im AD AF like Positive Change ( I have talk to you on my space
LOVE THIS THREAD THANKS txgrl01! The problem I'm facing now is that Congress has passed this law that you have to have served at least 8 yrs for them to consider you for medical retirement since cancer is consider a "Pre existing Condition" My geneticist was telling me about this! I have only served 4 1/2 yrs, and have been deployed numerous of times. I cant understand why this rule is like that especially now! I don't have the minimum number of yrs in so I could be told that they will honorably discharge me with no help! This is just so frustrating cause what do I do about medical insurance if I'm told I have to get out?
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Wow I didn't realize there were that many in this forum with military affiliation. My husband is retired Army and I work for the federal government. We live in Maryland and are under the US Family Health Plan (HMO) with TRICARE. I am happy with it because our HMO is under the Johns Hopkins umbrella so I was able to go to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore for all of my treatment. I have been extremely happy with my treatment and my medical team is top notch. I had a bi-lateral with reconstruction, chemo, rads and am now on Femara.
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Joykeeper, I sent you a PM.
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Hi all...good to see you Celia...I am too getting military care My DH is retired Navy...when I was diagnosed in2000 we were with Kaiser as my DH had another job with coverage..now that he really retired, retired we went back to the Navy at Balboa in San Diego in 2003. They had a beautiful breast cancer clinic...a couple of years ago the powers that be downgraded it and it is not the same. The plastic surgery dept for returning wounded soldiers took its place (this is very important ). So now we are spread out again and not very well organized. Some of the treatments are farmed out..I am now under Tricare for Life and Medicare but have chosen Tricare Plus which is where you still get treated at the military but it is not open for enrollment now for others..I am still undecided if I will stay put or go out on Tricare for Life and get treatments at a civilian hospital...knowing that I can't get back in...its a puzzlement!!!
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Hi to all, my dh is retired army. We have standard tricare west. I have not had any trouble. I am seen at the Mayo Clinic. I just came from a wig store where I was told that tricare will even cover wigs. Of course you pay up front and then wait to be reimbursed. I have not verified yet but she gave me the codes....hair loss diagnosis 70409 and the billing code is A 9282.
It sure doesnt take long to reach that catastrophic cap does it!!!!!
God bless the usa and her soldiers
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socal, always nice to see you. Sounds like it IS a bit puzzling about what you should do next. I will soon reach retirement age and i think that they kick me out of the military hospitals up here and have me go with Tricare for Life in civilian care. It changes often so i will have to find out in a year.
joykeeperorg, that sounds like quite a predicament. Is there someone in your military branch who you could get counseling from about your healthcare options? I would go futher up the chain of command than the geneticist (regardless of whether the geneticist is military or civilian) to find out exactly what is happening about that situation. That would be a horrible situation if you were without the military healthcare for cancer. Maybe you should also contact the AirForce lawyers. Good luck!! Let us know what happens.
celia
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Can I sneak in on this thread? I'm not AD military or involved with Tricare, but I'm a civilian employee of the Dept. of Defense living in Japan...a DoDDS teacher. I was diagnosed last summer while I was in the States and had my treatment in NY, but I've had follow-up care through the military. Our little clinic in Sasebo has had a terrible rep for a long time, but I've had nothing but good treatment from them...I'm very pleasantly surprised! The doctor who coordinated my six-month mammogram in Yokosuka and the blood work requested by my oncologist has been wonderful. No complaints whatsoever!
Glad to hear people are getting good care, for the most part, under Tricare. Our military is the best, and deserves the best medical care.
Lynn
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Hello Sasebo...I spent almost a month there 37 years ago...my husband's ship was homeported in country in Vietnam and it needed repairs...so I had a wonderful time there even tho I was 6 months pregnant with my middle son.
I am glad to hear you are getting good care there...
BTW is the Mushroom Garden restaurant still there, up on the hill...you could eat inside the trees..they were so big...
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My husband is retired army and I am being treated at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, WA. I have no complaints at all. Most everyone there has been wonderful. I was able to have a 2nd opinion at the best Seattle (SEATTLE CANCER CARE ALLIANCE) has to offer at zero cost to me. I have tricare prime and have not had to pay a dime for anything. I feel pretty lucky as I know co-pays can be very expensive. As for wigs, I know tricare will pay some. I heard 80%, up to $280.00. I will be purchasing mine soon and will let you know what I actually get reimbursed.
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Is anyone else here covered by
Tricare Plus
That is Medicare treatments
using the military hospital
My question is can we just go out to a civilian
provider specialist without a referral from the Military
and still be covered by Tricare and Medicare??
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hi Socal,
I have both Medicare (disabled, not retired quite yet) and Tricare Prime (don't know what Tricare Plus is--is it the same as Tricare for Life?). I was referred by the military facility for oncology since my local Navy hospital did not have an oncology department and i was covered for it by both insurances. I do not know about NOT having a referral from the military for a civilian facility and still being covered by both. Sounds like you need to call your Tricare representative and maybe Medicare also. Good luck!!
celia
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Hi everyone,
I'm retired Navy and under Tricare Prime. I was recently dx with IDC stage 1 on one breast. Does anyone know if they will pay for reconstruction on both breasts if you just decide to go ahead and get the double masectomy? I'm glad to see our military facilities are taking such good care of everyone! So far I've been fairly luckly and its only been a couple of weeks. The only issue I've had so far was that my general surgeon referred me to a plastic surgeon and I was told I could not use that one that I had to go to another one that was a preferred provider for Tricare Prime.
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Hi everyone,
I'm retired Navy and under Tricare Prime. I was recently dx with IDC stage 1 on one breast. Does anyone know if they will pay for reconstruction on both breasts if you just decide to go ahead and get the double masectomy? I'm glad to see our military facilities are taking such good care of everyone! So far I've been fairly luckly and its only been a couple of weeks. The only issue I've had so far was that my general surgeon referred me to a plastic surgeon and I was told I could not use that one that I had to go to another one that was a preferred provider for Tricare Prime.
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BethanyA,
I am also Tricare Prime. They have to pay for reconstruction, it is a law. As far as plastic surgeons, I think you have to go to an approved one. i have an appointment next week with one that is in the system. I had been wanting to go to a highly recomended one, but they do not take Tricare. i was very upset and cried , but now i am trying to be positive and hope I like this one. So many people on the site have gone for 3 or 4 different opinions, but there is only one here that takes Tricare. I do not know how much you would have to pay if you went elsewhere. Has anyone done that? Just curious. If I absolutely dislike this guy, then what??
D
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D,
Thank you for writing that...i have also experienced tricare saying that I couldn't go to the specialist that my general surgeon recommended. Now I have an appointment to the new one tomorrow, that Tricare recommended. I have the same questions you have regarding if I don't like him or my gen surgeon doesn't like him then what?
God Bless,
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Yes, Tricare paid for my reconstruction, and I had the double mastectomy. In the area where I live, it is impossible to find a network provider, and there are no military bases near me. I was lucky, that my general surgeon, who did my mastectomy, referred me to a ps, who agreed to accept Tricare, even though he is not in network. Also, my onc agreed to accept Tricare, although he, too is not in network. My general surgeon IS a Tricare Network Provider, and I just LOVE him!! Now, though, I won't need to see him for a year, and I am sad....
Good Luck!
Harley
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I now have a TRICARE question... Does anyone know if Tricare Prime will pay for annual eye exams, for family members, if you get a referral from your pcp? Since I am taking Tamoxifen, and it can cause Cataracts, I want to see an ophthalmologist, just to check on things. But, now that my dh is retired, I am told that I am only allowed eye exams EVERY OTHER YEAR.... Does anyone know about this?
Also, I just found out that cataracts run in my family....Thanks
Harley
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