Hi Rosie,
Great advice. All lessons hard learned I am sure. It makes me even more grateful for Kaiser Permanente HMO which covers almost 100% of everything. $5.00 deductible for doctors and prescriptions ($15.00 if no generic). In hospital, chemo, radiation, free. Any test I need, they just order it, no debates, just efficiency -I was always moved to the front of the line for all the scans. Years ago I had Kaiser and I hated it -they have really cleaned up their act. Since I also see a doctor at UCSF (radiation oncologist) they pay 100% of that also. It certainly is an advantage to have coordinated health care, rather than going to a bunch of individual providers scattered around town. In the cancer arena, comprehensive cancer care centers make a lot of sense (and I am refering to ones on the NCCN list, not that new age "...of America" thing). http://www.nccn.org/