I got my infusion center changed finally!! :D Thanks so much RW for the advice! :) I asked to speak with a supervisor at Biogen instead of a case manager. Lo and behold, everything was taken care of within a couple days. I'm set to go to Pittsburgh. Although, I will have to go through all of this carp again when I come back home. Sigh. :)

Thanks for letting us know Joelle! Glad to hear it worked out for you. I hope you saved the supervisor's name for your return trip! It should go a lot easier when you re-establish at home again. :)

Can you tell us what you did (in steps) so if it happens with someone else they will know the drill? Generalize the information if you need to. Is another neuro involved? Did they just transfer your scrip to another infusion center? Any problems with your insurance?

I am sure there are more people both here and to come that might be in the same situation. There's lots of folks who go south for the winter, and a LOT of us who have or will need to provide care for aging parents who can use this information!

How to change infusion sites
 

Hi everyone!!!

Here is what I had to do to change infusion sites:

My first call was to a case manager at Biogen, then another case manager, and another :rolleyes::rolleyes:.

Finally I asked for a supervisor as RW suggested (thanks again!). My advice would be to speak with a case manager once and if you don't get the help you need, ask for a supervisor.

Once you get that far, you will get a list of infusion sites from Biogen that are near the area where you will be staying/living. I had problems with the first infusion site I chose :(. They weren't returning calls. So, Biogen called a different site for me. They gave me that address and phone number (wrong number by the way :mad:), along with the Tysabri nurse's name. I asked her if they accepted my insurance and if they would honor my neuro's scrip. They do, thank goodness.

When I got through to the Ty nurse at the new site she took care of everything else. This particular site would honor my scrip for Ty from my current neuro (I imagine this would not be the case if I were actually moving permanently to the area). Some sites will not honor the scrip from a doctor not at their site. You would have to get a scrip from the neuro associated with the new infusion site.

I had to have my neuro's office fax a few of my records to the new site. My insurance did not cause any problems, yet :rolleyes:. The Ty will be shipped from my regular specialty pharmacy to the new site.

I have an appointment set up at my new site on April 14th for my third infusion. Hopefully, everything will go smoothly. The new Ty nurse assured me that everything was going to be fine. I'll just have to wait and see :rolleyes:.

When I go to Pittsburgh on April 9th, I won't be online hardly at all. My parents do not have a computer, ARGH! I have no idea when I'll be back, I bought a one-way ticket for the time being. I'm going to start another thread about this in the Stumble Inn shortly.

I hope this helps :):) !!

Hi Joelle

I am glad things are working out for you. The last thing you need right now is a hassle getting your infusions. :hug:

I had my first infusion yesterday, and it went really well! Didn't feel any different than with saline in an IV, so I hope that is a good sign. I slept better last night than I have for a few nights also. So I'm feeling good about the change to Ty today!

Glad to hear everything went well for you! Please keep us updated on how you are doing and welcome to the wonderful world of Tysabri!!:)

I go for my first infusion on the 30th, and I was just wondering from everyone. How many patients are in your clinic. For myself I am going to be the twelvth patient.

Glad to hear that you are scheduled for your first infusion!

I can't speak for anyone else. I go to a 25 bed hospital that has an
infusion center. I was the only one for my first 7 infusions.
Now there are two of us!:)

I go to a standard Neuro office. They have 70 on TY. They also give infusions for headaches... 3 large comfy chairs in a very small room. The others came and went as theirs was for 30 min - mine 2hrs. No problem at all. Nice chat or read/sleep time. Very relaxed.

I know my neuro has 16 patients on Ty, and there are other neuros in my town. He said most are going to the infusion center I am going to, not the hospital that is the other place that does them.

They only do Ty three days a week, M-W-F, so I'm limited to those three days. I did Wednesday the first time. Everything going well so far!