The 'phone consultation with GP clarified a few things. He can't prescribe Zometa or Lenalidomide for me because they're both "disease-modifying" drugs (I need to do some research about that), but he could prescribe Dexamethasone given a letter from Dr.Ch to authorise it. He said that if AXA-PPP continue to be difficult the best solution would be for Dr.Ch to take me on as NHS as well as private (he also works at Broomfield, the Chelmsford NHS hospital) and get the disputed meds through that route. He says "It's quite a common arrangement". I did suggest something along those lines to Dr.Ch a day or two ago and he replied with something like "We don't need to think about that yet".
I've also stirred up a hornet's nest on the Facebook Myeloma Support UK group by posting about this and asking for anybody with a good experience of importing Lenalidomide from India to get in touch privately. Two people have done so with very helpful information. The price is roughly one-fiftieth of the "official" UK price, which brings the idea of self-payment out of the completely impossible into the affordable (just) if no alternative. But of course the primary aim is to persuade AXA-PPP to live up to my policy's name of "Comprehensive Cancer Cover" instead of trying to hide behind the fine print...
It's a little difficult putting a decent argument together for AXA-PPP because I have very little detail of exactly what they've paid out for, and how much. There's no itemised invoice on the website, just the name they're paying, a total amount, and a vague heading like "Chemotherapy". Some of the invoices obviously arrive months after the event so you can't build up a complete picture. I was advised to call the Claims people for help with this, and that's when I found out that my account was locked, almost certainly because the case management team meeting was looking at it. Anyway, here's the answer I got back:
I've emailed that to the chemo team at Springfield and asked them to help. I'll be in there on Tuesday for bloods (and possibly Zometa, but I rather think I'll be on the Bonefos pills for another month before this gets sorted out) - or possibly on Monday for a COVID-19 test before they'll do anything at all...
Weekend coming up, and I'll try to put all this out of my mind for a couple of days. Get a few walks/rolls in, collect a puncture or two. What passes for exercise has been a bit too limited at the end of this week with too much rain and too many other things to get on with. Can't afford to get too lazy about that.
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