Have I been abandoned? I feel as if I have.

In today’s mail was a letter from my kidney oncologist (I also have renal cancer) telling me that he will no longer accept my insurance!

He said that he hoped that I would continue to use him as my physician, but if not he recommended a colleague who does take my insurance. The colleague he recommended is my urologist. He is a good urologist, but he is not a kidney oncologist and he certainly is not of the same caliber.

What feels like salt in the wound is that I had just worked a new arrangement with my kidney oncologist and my prostate cancer oncologist. I was seeing my prostate cancer doctor every three months and the kidney specialist every 6 months. The schedule worked out so that every six months I was seeing both of them, usually in the same week. They both are at the same hospital, just two floors apart. Since the kidney doctor also sees prostate cancer patients and I have grown to trust him and his opinions about both the prostate and the renal cancers. Therefore, I changed the arrangements so that I would see one of them every three months, alternating each cycle. Both agreed to work together and assist me in monitoring both cancers. It felt like a perfect resolution.

Now I get this letter and have to decide if I am able to continue seeing him. I do have “out of network” benefits, but they are extremely limited.

It just doesn’t feel right. The very same thing as happened with my rheumatologist. When he stopped accepting my insurance, I went on and saw two different doctors, but ended back with him and paying out of pocket to see him.

Now I will have to make this decision all over again, it does not feel right.

Joel T Nowak MA, MSW