More progress

-
I had my rheumatologist visit today. For those of you who follow my progress with RA, here's my latest news. I am off Methotrexate! WOOHOO! I can't say I'm sorry to see it go. I felt better for the first month or two of MTX, but the benefits faded over time. So it's out with the old and in with the new. In this case, the new is Enbrel.

I am registering for Enbrel support this afternoon. I may qualify to receive my first six months for free, and afterward with only a $10 copay per month. That is perfectly reasonable. I am glad, because though I hope it doesn't happen, there is the possibility that my work could change in the near future and my health insurance might change right along with it. But more than the financial aspect, I am glad to be able to move away from the medications that aren't working and into something that just might really change my health for the better.

The past month has been hard, but the past two weeks have gone beyond hard to insane. Everything at work has blown up, and though my coworkers are the absolute best and we are all working together wonderfully, stress is undeniably connected to my disease in the worst way. Whenever stress rises, so does my pain and fatigue. After two weeks of craziness at work, I am absolutely dragging. Hopefully the new medication will bring a change for the better.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Do I Dare?

-
 In 2013, after the loss of my beloved father, I started having multiple health issues. It began with several UTIs, or maybe one long-lasting UTI that seemed to clear up but kept returning. Then, I had two kidney stones. From June through September, I felt terrible most of the time. I was exhausted, struggling to push away my grief, and focused on a job that brought me no joy. I was in a relationship that I depended on with a man I loved and trusted completely; I’d have cheerfully laid down my life for him. This was no small thing since I do not trust easily. I recall waking up one Sunday morning beside him, stretching, and crying out in pain. My entire body hurt. There wasn’t a muscle or a joint that wasn’t affected, from my neck to my toes. I felt as though I was catching the flu, complete with the full body aches, fever, and exhaustion it brings. Cold fear welled up in my mind; the recollection of that moment is as sharp and clear as though it just happened yesterday. I knew what
Read more

The Year that Wasn't

-
I have not looked at, or even thought about, this blog for quite sometime. On March 13th, 2020, I was preparing to go home from work for what we all assumed would be a two week break while we worked out how we could keep a college campus open and still manage to stay healthy in the face of Covid-19. We were closed to the public that afternoon as we scrambled to clear out our offices so they could be deep cleaned and sanitized. My assistant and I went through the building, wiping down doors and surfaces. We talked about what we would do to stay safe when we returned. We shared our worries - I am younger than she is, but her health is better than mine. Still, we both fall into a high-risk category for severe or deadly infection from the novel coronavirus. We filled out forms to enable us to work from home for the next two weeks, and I put together a list of tasks for us to complete during our time out of the office.  Two weeks turned into five months - 2020 became the year that wasn'
Read more

Prologue: The Pied Piper

-
What's past is prologue. ~ William Shakespeare "When lo, as they reached the mountain-side, a wondrous portal opened wide, as if a cavern suddenly hollowed; the Piper advanced and the children followed..." ~ Robert Browning Like most people, I use social media to express who I am, share what interests me, and stay in touch with people who matter to me. Lately, I have been scolded, manipulated, and mocked for my stance on politics, immediately followed by people insisting that I need to get with the program and support the incoming administration, because that is my duty as an American. Yesterday, a friend posted a request that people unite behind our leadership, regardless of how we voted, because we need to "come together" as a country and heal the divisions that have plagued us. I understand the request and what motivated it. Like most of us, she wants people to get along. She is tired of the fighting and is dismayed by what she sees around her. I get it,
Read more