Planning The Unpredictable » Treatment

There.

nina — Sat, 16 May 2009 06:38:59 +0000

I did it. I gave myself a shot. Of course, now I am itching and hurting so bad that I won’t be able to sleep on my right side tonight.

All I gotta say is…. my MRI better be perfect for all this freakin itching. It’s next week. I think I should get a party if it’s the same as last year. If it’s not then I think I should get a party for putting up with all the stupid itching for no reason. Well, I don’t really like parties so maybe no parties. I wouldn’t mind another camera lens though.

Oh, just so I have something positive, here are some pictures I took yesterday at the Aquarium:

Copaxone Anonymous

nina — Sat, 16 May 2009 05:10:31 +0000

I confess. It’s been almost 48 hours since my last shot. That means I did not do my shot last night. I need to join Copaxone Anonymous (CA) and start working the steps. I promise to do it tonight even thought I am still itching from my shot two days ago. Step one is admitting that I have a problem…. I hate the freakin shots.

(Not meant to offend those with actually addition problems (and chocolate doesn’t count)).

Shots

nina — Thu, 14 May 2009 07:03:13 +0000

I am tired of shots. I am tired of the pain from the shots. I am tired of the two day bump. I am tired of the two day itchy bump. I am so freakin tired of the shots. I am tired of the big huge annoying box that the shots come in from Aetna. I am tired of Aetna calling me all the time to get a new prescription. I am tired of shared solutions calling me to ask me some random questions. I am just plain tired of the freakin shots. ok? ok. Argh!!!!!!

Breastfeeding and Copaxone

nina — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 04:43:22 +0000

I am a bit of a childbirth nerd. I have been trained to be a doula and attended three births. I don’t know if I will ever have kids so my family reading this shouldn’t get the wrong idea or anything.

I decided to do some research on breastfeeding with Copaxone. The expert in medications and breastfeeding is Dr. Thomas Hale from Texas Tech University Medical School. He does research studies on breast milk with different medications to determine if they are safe. Every year he publishes a book on breastfeeding and medicine. So another words, he is the expert in this area.

He has a message board which is open to everyone to read and only medical professionals to post. He has researched Copaxone and breast milk. He *believes* it is safe to breastfeed while on Copaxone! I am not sure what medical professionals would say. I forgot to ask my doc the last time I was there but anyway,

The reason he thinks Copaxone is safe is that it is a large molecule that is unlikely to enter the breast milk. Copaxone is also NOT orally bio-available which I think we are all very aware of. He also says “large peptide antigenically similar to myelin basic protein. I can’t imagine that even if microscopic amounts were absorbed, it would harm an infant.”

It is a calculated risk but very low considering all the other risks in your life. Talk with your doc and stuff but I’d do it (again family, no crazy ideas here).

Copaxone Nurse

nina — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 05:44:21 +0000

The shared solutions nurse came for a visit and she was much more helpful than the first person. I did my shot manually instead of with auto-inject. I think I will like doing it this way better but it will take some time to get use to it. Anyway, she had a couple suggestions -

First, tape the auto-inject spring down so that you don’t press into your body to engage the safety. This is a great idea! No seriously! I love it! They should just get rid of this ‘feature’ because newbies like me push it into our bodies to engage the spring which makes the site reactions worse.

Second, the COOLEST THING EVER! A needle clipper! This little thing will clip the needle part off and store that within itself so that you can just doss the syringe in the garbage!!!! It stores 1500 needles so it’ll last forever. HOW FREAKING COOL IS THAT? If anyone wants to get me a Christmas present….

Over all, a very good appointment. She was great, finally!