As we first discovered my Rheumatoid Arthritis (I say “we” because I have an amazing team of doctors) biologics were one of many treatment methods. I’m pretty sure that because of my age and their ability to arrest the disease the biologics were my physicians preference.
I resisted and we tried Methotrexeate first, but it didn’t work well for me. One of the reasons I wanted to try the Methotrexate was because I was terrified of needles. One of my readers was kind enough to give me her phone number and we spent about an hour on the phone while she told me all about her experiences with injectables similar to Simponi (like Humira and Enbrel) and she gave me the confidence I needed to move forward.
Another online friend was good for several long phone calls and warned me about how someone she loved had been misdiagnosed with RA, and died as a result of undiagnosed cancer. This too was an incredibly valuable conversation to have.
So in the spirit of sharing information I made a quick video of my fifth Simponi injection. I feel pretty good and I’d had for anyone else to not find their cure because they’re afraid of the needle. It’s not graphic, and it’s not scary.
Thanks to all of you who are so incredibly supportive.
I don’t write notes by hand any more. I have beautiful stationery, but my hand gets wiggly and jiggly about four words in. It’s too much work to hand write, and emotionally it’s taxing.
I also wear flip flops a lot. Tying my shoes in the morning is extraordinary difficult.
I fear that the Simponi has done most of the work it’s bound to do, and this is pretty much as good as it’s going to get. I’m mostly grateful that we caught things early on, and I’m mostly grateful that I have access to a good team. Today someone did something unbelievably kind for me, and after three failed attempts I threw out the chicken scratch thank you note and sent an email.
I am in insurance hell. Mr G’s workplace changed from one pharmaceutical provider to another another and what I thought was awful has transformed into dismal.
The story I have to tell (which will not be today) is incredibly sad. It will make you scream for healthcare reform and it will show you why our insurance companies keep people sick.
I spent $1,919 for my Simponi this month. If I work at it for a half dozen hours I might be reimbursed. But then again, I might not.
I had a post that I wanted to put up today, but it will wait until tomorrow.
Today I spent the morning feeling sorry for myself. I’m losing my hair. I’m not bald, not by a long shot. But my hair is falling out. It appears to be a side effect of the drugs for my RA.
I used to wrap a ponytail holder around my hair twice with no extra space. Now I’m wrapping it three times. I spent the morning on the phone with the Doctor and then at midday my pity party was interrupted by the sounds of sirens.
Police sirens were everywhere for the better part of an hour. With most of the LAPD going to Woodland Hills where an LAUSD police officer was shot in the chest and an armed man was on the loose. It’s 5.30 pm and 9,000 kids are just leaving schools that were locked down all day.
I’m an incredibly selfish woman, because I’m still sitting here staring at my thinning hair and ordering Rogaine.
If you’re raising kids, and they’re bored, go have them play with Wolfram Alpha. This Simponi (I know I pronounced it wrong) will only last so long, and I’m counting on y’all to raise the next generation of scientists and radical thinkers.
