I had my 2 procedures of HDR Brachytherapy (monotherapy) on 2-7-20 & 2-14-20.
I had some really bad burning during urination for about 2 weeks, but the Pyridium saved me. I was also prescribed Flomax for one month, which was a big help. I have no incontinence and expect no ED, but was in pain urinating until a couple of days ago and wasn't even thinking about sex.
Might I digress, I went into the procedure at a level 10, but when I left I was at around level 7. The Radiation Oncologist recommended the SpaceOAR hydrogel, which sounded great. I saw the Radiation Oncologist on 12-13-19 and decided to have the 2 treatments and scheduled it that day for 2-7-20 & 2-14-20. I get a call from Nurse A on 1-29-19, approximately 10 days before my procedure and she tells me that they failed to submit the request for the authorization for the procedures, but she was going to make sure it happened. I was getting nervous by now. I get a call from Nurse A the next day and she said it was denied by Anthem Blue Cross, but the RO was going to have a peer-to-peer with Anthem later that day. I said to make sure they did the peer-to-peer for the SpaceOAR hydrogel and she said yes. The next day, I called and asked for a Supervisor and got Nurse B, she said Nurse A was no longer with UCLA (oh great!). Nurse B said the request for authorization for the procedure was sent in on 12-30-19, not 6 weeks later like Nurse A said. I get a call from Nurse B on 1-31-19 and she said everything was approved.
I get to UCLA for my first procedure on 2-7-20, I’ve got my gown on, sitting in the gurney, had blood drawn, and an IV inserted and the RO comes in and says the SpaceOAR hydrogel wasn’t approved. I wasn’t too happy that they waited until then to tell me about the SpaceOAR gel. I found out that UCLA knew on 2-1-20 (Saturday) the SpaceOAR gel wasn’t approved and they failed to inform me. I felt like it was bait and switch by that time.
The RO said, there was low toxicity to the rectum without the SpaceOAR gel and he would use FloSeal (used to stop bleeding) to create the space between the prostate and rectum. The RO said I really didn’t need the SpaceOAR gel, I said why did you recommend it then? After pondering for 15 minutes I decided to go ahead with the procedure. I had missed 2 days of work, had a ride lined up, family was there, I was extremely disappointed. Also, Nurse B wasn’t correct when she said the request for authorization was submitted on 12-30-19, it was actually submitted on 1-20-20 (which was actually 5 weeks late not 6 weeks).
The RO said that starting this year Anthem says they won’t approve SpaceOAR gel. I told Nurse B and the RO that my son in law is a lawyer and he fights insurance companies for a living and if they would’ve informed me in a timely manner, he would’ve contacted Anthem and possibly got the SpaceOAR gel approved. He even sent me the caselaw regarding the denial.
Anyways, I needed to vent. I was hoping for a much more positive experience.
peace
SBRT 
UCLA/UCSF Doctors for initial treatment – SBRT or Surgery
Freehand vs. Template HDR Brachytherapy 
