Last night I drove through the pharmacy to pick up Sam's latest prescription... TOBI. The pharmacist chatted with me for awhile and then he said "Thank goodness you have good insurance coverage on this...... your insurance saved you $4335.39!" OMG!!! At $4000.00 + per month this stuff had better work. Besides our regular co-pay we had to get a special nebulizer attachment (not covered by insurance) but all considering insurance saved us a bundle!!! seriously!
TOBI... short for Tobramycin (TOE-bra-MYE-sin). TOBI is an inhaled antibiotic used to treat certain infections caused by Pseudomonas bacteria. Typically this medication is used by Cystic Fibrosis patients. Sam does not have CF, however like many CF patients he seems to be plagued by Pseudomonas infections. TOBI is administered via a special nebulizer, 2 times a day for 28 days on... then 28 days off.... then 28 days on (you get the picture). Each treatment takes about 15 minutes and Sam, no stranger to nebulizer treatments, seems to tolerate them pretty good so far.
After one oral (g-tube actually) antibiotic after another with so-so luck at keeping infections at bay, his pulmonologist thought TOBI might do the trick. I have high hopes that since this medication is inhaled, rather than ingested, it might not have the same negative effect that other antibiotics have on his bottom. Sam still has horrible diaper rashes due to Hirschsprung's disease and having basically no large intestine so maybe since TOBI does not go through his system the same way maybe his sore bum will be spared.
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