Kathleen Kaufman

I spent 60 hours over 30 days in a hyperbaric chamber after the surgeon who did my mastectomies (after breast cancer) cut the skin too thinly, & there wasn’t enough blood supply to keep the skin alive & suture it back together. I can tell you it wouldn’t be something I’d look forward to again! You have to only wear their garments, no make-up or…[Read more]

My husband, who has IPF, & I both got Covid in December 2020, before vaccinations were available. We were very sick, & got monoclonal antibodies, which is why I think he didn’t end up in the hospital. Unfortunately, my husband also got a rare pneumonia called Organizing Pneumonia. His lung disease doctor said this was considered an exacerbation.…[Read more]

I’m fairly certain Esbriet is Medicare approved, and some insurance companies have a policy that they’ll approve what Medicare approves. I’d certainly use that as an argument.

Just a comment re lung transplant. My husband had renal cancer in 1978. They removed the kidney, & he’s had no problems since then. We met with a lung transplant physician, & he said that the drugs one has to take after having a transplant are very hard on the kidneys, & he could guarantee that within a year he’d be on dialysis. So that eliminated…[Read more]

My husband was diagnosed with IPF in Sept 2020, & was started on Esbriet. In late Dec 2020 he was positive for Covid-19, & got monoclonal antibodies, which I suspect kept him out of the hospital. But as a result of the Covid, he got another very rare disease, Organizing Pneumonia. The pneumonia was so bad they couldn’t even see the IPF on a CT…[Read more]

You asked about those having IPF & COVID. My husband was diagnosed with IPF about a year ago. He got COVID at the end of December, & got monoclonal antibodies. But alas, he also got Organizing Pneumonia from COVID. The lung inflammation on the CT scan was so bad that they couldn’t even see the fibrosis to see whether it’s gotten any worse. He’s…[Read more]