I also exercised pre transplant to get in shape and was very surprised at the shortness of breath when I started walking again after surgery. This has improved over time, but blood pressure remains high. Also, like you I have been put on 5mg of prednisone a few weeks ago because it was believed that Cellcept was interfering with white cell production. The copay for the Neupegen was $87. Within a week of the shot my white count remained low and I ended up with an infection, so was admitted to the hospital where I received four more Neupegan shots over the course of a week. Fortunately there is no copay for in-hospital meds and fortunately I did not need to pay over $350 in co-pays for the medicine. This would have been tough. My white count and neutrophil level have remained at normal levels for a couple of weeks now. It is ironic that hospital care cost me nothing out of pocket, while outpatient care can come with such high patient costs. From the insurance company's point of view, I would think they would want to keep outpatients cost lower to provide incentive to cut down on hospital stays.

So with my follow-up visit last week, blood numbers are good, liver function is perfect--the surgeon's comment--but creatinine and potassium are high. Prednisone was cut to 2.5mg per day. The doctor told me that adjusting meds for transplant patients is not "the science of medication," it is "the art of medication." Basically meaning it is trial and error. For me, the worst thing during recovery is drug side-effects. There is no amount of exercise, diet adjustment, or positive thinking that makes the dizziness and head fog go away. It becomes part of a new reality. At least so far. The doctor is sympathetic and tells me to be patient in the first six months.

Getting back to the topic of this discussion, the challenge financially for those of us on medicare is to find the best Part D plan we can before December 15. Almost an impossible task with our prescription list changing weekly. Using the Medicare calculator, my estimated co-pays total at least $1200 per year.