drug update

I am one step closer to starting my new drug therapy...Rebif. I received my prescription in the mail on Thursday, now I am awaiting my Exceptional Drug Status letter from the provincial government, so that I can get the take the prescription to the pharmacy to have it filled.

Safeway Pharmacy, where we take this prescription now offers 7 times the airmiles everyday, instead of 10 times on the first Tueday of the month. humph.

On Friday, I connected with Elsie, my new drug therapy nurse, courtesy of the drug company. Elsie is located somewhere in the 905 area code...which means I don't get to speak with her in person. My previous nurse, Rosie, has apparantly set the bar quite high. Not only was Rosie wonderful, but it looks like Teva Neuro as a company will have outplayed Serono in my world.

I am anxious to get going on this new drug. I will be injecting 3 times a week, versus every day. I suppose that is a bonus right there (and Rebif also claims to have the thinnest gauge needle in their field). However, I'm a bit nervous about the possible side effects...site reactions and flu-like symptoms (chills, achey, nausea). I asked Elsie how long the side effects are generally an issue for patients, and she said that she was unable to answer that. She said that I could experience the discomfort with each injection anywhere from a couple of days, to many months. Rosie would have given me an answer...and solutions! I guess that is why Rosie worked for Shared Solutions.

And...Rebif is going to cost us more out of pocket (compared to Copaxone) as we pay down our deductible starting in April.

I'm off to bed early tonight. I have a vestibular physio appointment tomorrow morning at 8:15! Yes, they really do have a short notice cancellation list! Obviously, no one took into account that I don't begin to roll out of bed until 9:30!

Emily

1 comments:

corina said...
February 4, 2008 at 11:54 a.m.

hope your appt went well this am...call me tonight to talk if you want...i won't bug you during the day so you can catch up on sleep ;) and i can catch up on work :P

Little bits about my life with MS

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