Mother diagnosed with ESLD....I am not ready for this

Oh Sara, I am so sorry. It sounds as if you are carrying your family on your shoulders. Please be sure to take care of yourself. It is not selfish when you do...it is self preservation. Prayers with you.
Emma

wait - I said she is a 10, but I types it wrong..............sorry - She is a 20!

Sara, I'm glad the doctor went ahead and got the results of her latest labs. I was a 22 when I started the Transplant Evaluation process. It had only been a 7, but when liver cancer was found on March 31st, it immediately raised my score to 22. The day I received transplant (10/27/11), I was to receive another 3 points. So 20 is high, considering there is no cancer.

Regarding insurance, there is a spouse here whose hubby is being covered by the VA. I believe they will cover transplant 100%. But even if they don't, this should not be a concern. Find out if the transplant center has a charity fund (the forms/info should be available in the Financial Office) and have her apply if there is too much of a balance for her to pay. At Mayo, they had made the decision to accept whatever Medicare paid for all the tests, etc., regarding evaluation--so that cost me nothing. My Medicare and Medically Needy Medicaid are paying for most of the transplant and hospitalization. My transplant alone (including operating room, anesthesia and various doctors involved, plus everything they used in the course of surgery) was over $200,000. I got a bill for $8.00, which I gladly paid. The statements for ICU for 4 days and the transplant floor for another 4 days (including all the IVs, PT/OT, dressings, drainage bags, etc., etc.) has not yet arrived. I would bet that the total, including actual transplant, is around one million. But I am not the least bit concerned about anything I might owe. If you send them $1 a month, they cannot turn the account over to a collection agency, as you are showing "intent to pay." One thing she should NOT do is to enter into any kind of agreement with the financial office whereby she would agree to pay $50 or $100 a month, or whatever they deem she should pay. She does NOT have to do this. Let her first get the statements, find out what insurance pays, and if there is a balance she can just pay whatever amount she is comfortable paying each month (if she doesn't get charity help.) I attached a note saying, "This is all I can pay each month." (It was $5/mo. for previous visits, etc.) Medicare and my Part D prescription plan cover most of my meds, though I do have co-pays.

So the last thing your mom should be concerned about at this point is cost. It's her life and you can't put a dollar value on that.

Hugs,
Connie

Sara, I don't know about the VA, but Medicaid and Food Stamps will ask if any property has been sold or transferred in the last 60 days? 90 days? 6 months? (don't recall the exact figure.)

Cirrhosis CAN turn to liver cancer. In my case, it was the hep C that caused the cancer...both times. At Mayo, it took me 6 weeks to get through the evaluation (you can read about it in my thread My Transplant Evaluation.) Most centers do it a lot quicker, some in as little as 3-5 days. In any case, they will do more blood work, an MRI with contrast, and various other tests and consults.

She should know exactly what is going on in her body by the time the evaluation is finished. Once I completed the evaluation, I was listed fairly quickly (results go to a transplant committee at the hospital, whose members decide who will get listed or not.) From the time I was listed July 18th, it was just a little over 3 mos. until I got the transplant. Actually, they had a liver for me on Oct. 4th, but I was inactivated because of a virus. It took about 10 days to clear the virus and get reactivated, so after that it wasn't very long until I got another call and a transplant on Oct. 27th.

Hugs,
Connie