It's Easy to Complain

When I was working as a reporter I received my share of complaints about something I had written. It comes with the territory.

It was rare that someone would call to compliment me on a story. It did happen. But the proportion of complaints to compliments was lopsided. It's human nature. If we're upset about something we feel driven to stand-up and be heard. If we feel something's well done, well we just expect that that's the way it's supposed to be.

I've had plenty of complaints about Aetna, my health insurance carrier, and I think the complaints are well deserved. But there are bright spots that deserve compliments in my cancer experience.

One of those bright spots has been Bayer Pharmaceuticals, the company that produces Nexavar, the chemotherapy drug I take.

Bayer created a special division they call Operation Reach to interact with patients who are taking Nexavar. Nexavar has recently been approved by the FDA to treat liver cancer as well as kidney cancer.

The staff at Operation Reach is incredible. They call you ever month to schedule delivery of the drug. They are always there for you to answer any question, and they're extremely well-trained, extremely knowledgeable, and very caring.

Sometimes I actually feel fortunate that Aetna refuses to pay for Nexavar. Because if Aetna did pay for the Nexavar they would force me to use their own pharmacy. And I can only imagine the mess that would be. I'd likely go without the chemo as they fumble through everything like the Keystone Cops.

So as we're so eager to complain, please take time out to compliment.

And I've got a big hats off to Operation Reach of Bayer. They've been nothing short of miraculous to me. Thank you guys!