I will be starting a new oral MS drug called Gilenya on Monday, May 7. I will be arriving at 9:00 am and then spend the next 6 hours in the doctors office. This drug can cause heart problems and this is why they want you to start it first with them. I don't anticipate any problems. I have to make sure I bring things to do, things I might want to snack on, reading material, etc. Oh yeah, and wear comfortable clothing.
I am going to be getting the new Nicholas Spark's book by the end of this week, so I am sure I will read the whole book while there.
I attended a support group last Friday but I wasn't able to stay very long as I had to go to a doctor's appointment on Hilton Head. It can take about 30 minutes to get over there depending on traffic. It was just a check up from my surgery on that Monday. I am doing fine by the way and the Botox in the bladder has helped. It is so strange not to have those urges to rush to the bathroom but I can go when I want or need too. I know...too much information or TMI.
We still haven't pin down a general doctor yet but we are closer. It is down to two. We can go with a service of several doctors or a single doctor. We like the service of several doctors because this facility has everything you would need. If you need an x-ray, or a blood test, you won't have to anywhere as it will all be right there. The single doctor has just moved from New York but he has a number of years experience. He is just starting to get his patiences for his practice so that might be a good one.
I am going to start with a personal trainer in a couple of days. Hampton Lake has a fitness center and you have a chance to either work with a trainer or not. I just elected to work with one. The fitness center is aware of my MS so I will see how everything plays out.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Changes
It has been a busy couple of weeks around here. Sam had been flying back and forth to Canada for about a month, in hopes of landing a large project for Clark Construction. Alas, it wasn't meant to be as they lost to a Canadian company. They gave it their best effort though but everyone seemed a little defeated.
I have finally connected with 3 new doctors. The first being my neurologist. He is a good looking doc if I say so myself. He is changing the medication that I have taken since 1997, Avonex. He is changing it to Gilenya. It is a new oral drug and it is stronger than the Avonex. Dr. Bettle said because I had been having flare-ups, the Avonex was not doing its job.
Gilenya has been talked about a lot in the news because of a serious side effect. It can affect your heart. Some people have died but those looking out for things like this, are not sure if it was the new drug or something else they were taking. A report on their findings should be out tomorrow. I have NOT started it as they will have the drug made, mail it to me, and then I will call Dr. Bettle to set up an appointment with him at his office. The first dose is done in the office so they can keep an eye on you for any complications. They have many of their patients on this drug without any problem. I have to stay for 6 hours during this monitoring and I will be checked every hour. Your heart could slow down and this is why you take the first dose with them. It does recover but it doesn't happen real fast.
Based on this, you may be saying to yourself - why am I doing this? I trust what my doctor has told me, I have checked online for information, and I won't have to give me a shot every week into my thigh. I have an opthamologist, taking care of my eyes, to make sure there is no problem with them on this drug.
I have a new psychiatrist for my depression. He also changed my medication by increasing one of the drugs. He seems OK but I will wait and see how it goes. He is different. His office is on the second floor and I have to go up stairs to get to it. I don't have a problem doing this feat right now but I am not sure what would happen if I am not able. I am not sure if he has another office. I guess I will cross that bridge when I come to it.
I also have a new urologist because of an over active bladder. I have dealt with this problem for many years. What my doctor is going to do is use Botox to calm it down. I will have this procedure on Monday, April 23. I am not going into details on what will be done unless someone wants that information. Just let me know an I will send the information by separate email.
We still need to find a general doctor and my female doctor. When you can't get a referral from someone, you just have to close your eyes and pick one. We also look for someone close to us if we can, though we have had to drive into Savannah for doctors. Savannah is about a half hour from us so it doesn't take much time to get there.
We still haven't straighten out the 2nd bedroom. It doesn't have as many boxes as before but the room needs a makeover. This was my room to do my scrap booking and other crafts in and so far it is a catch all for everything we don't know where else to put it. We do have nothing but time so it isn't a big priority except maybe to me. he he. We did get new pillows for the chairs and couch in the family room. They look pretty good. I went and used a brighter color to give it a little pop! Sounds like one of those home shows.
We are planning a cruise to Western Europe September 1. We will fly into Barcelona, Spain, and depart from there. We will then go to Naples/Pompeii, Italy, Livorno (Florence/Pisa) Italy, Cannes, France, Marseille, France, and then back to Barcelona. It will be a 7 day trip. We will probably stay a day in Barcelona before flying back home. This will be our first trip to Europe. It will take us about 17 hours to fly there between the layovers and time changes. On the way over, we will stop twice but on the way back, it will only be once. Why they don't have a flight like that going, is any bodies guess.
The MS Walk happens next month but we will be missing it this year. In June will be the golf tournament for Betty's Builders, so we decided to fly then rather than for both. We haven't missed that walk in over 10 years, so it is a little strange not participating.
We are meeting the neighbors on our street and everyone has been wonderful. The last house will be built on the lot right next to us and this will be the last one. Our street will be finished. We wished we had purchased this lot but we were too late. We will just have close neighbors. It will be good ...
I have finally connected with 3 new doctors. The first being my neurologist. He is a good looking doc if I say so myself. He is changing the medication that I have taken since 1997, Avonex. He is changing it to Gilenya. It is a new oral drug and it is stronger than the Avonex. Dr. Bettle said because I had been having flare-ups, the Avonex was not doing its job.
Gilenya has been talked about a lot in the news because of a serious side effect. It can affect your heart. Some people have died but those looking out for things like this, are not sure if it was the new drug or something else they were taking. A report on their findings should be out tomorrow. I have NOT started it as they will have the drug made, mail it to me, and then I will call Dr. Bettle to set up an appointment with him at his office. The first dose is done in the office so they can keep an eye on you for any complications. They have many of their patients on this drug without any problem. I have to stay for 6 hours during this monitoring and I will be checked every hour. Your heart could slow down and this is why you take the first dose with them. It does recover but it doesn't happen real fast.
Based on this, you may be saying to yourself - why am I doing this? I trust what my doctor has told me, I have checked online for information, and I won't have to give me a shot every week into my thigh. I have an opthamologist, taking care of my eyes, to make sure there is no problem with them on this drug.
I have a new psychiatrist for my depression. He also changed my medication by increasing one of the drugs. He seems OK but I will wait and see how it goes. He is different. His office is on the second floor and I have to go up stairs to get to it. I don't have a problem doing this feat right now but I am not sure what would happen if I am not able. I am not sure if he has another office. I guess I will cross that bridge when I come to it.
I also have a new urologist because of an over active bladder. I have dealt with this problem for many years. What my doctor is going to do is use Botox to calm it down. I will have this procedure on Monday, April 23. I am not going into details on what will be done unless someone wants that information. Just let me know an I will send the information by separate email.
We still need to find a general doctor and my female doctor. When you can't get a referral from someone, you just have to close your eyes and pick one. We also look for someone close to us if we can, though we have had to drive into Savannah for doctors. Savannah is about a half hour from us so it doesn't take much time to get there.
We still haven't straighten out the 2nd bedroom. It doesn't have as many boxes as before but the room needs a makeover. This was my room to do my scrap booking and other crafts in and so far it is a catch all for everything we don't know where else to put it. We do have nothing but time so it isn't a big priority except maybe to me. he he. We did get new pillows for the chairs and couch in the family room. They look pretty good. I went and used a brighter color to give it a little pop! Sounds like one of those home shows.
We are planning a cruise to Western Europe September 1. We will fly into Barcelona, Spain, and depart from there. We will then go to Naples/Pompeii, Italy, Livorno (Florence/Pisa) Italy, Cannes, France, Marseille, France, and then back to Barcelona. It will be a 7 day trip. We will probably stay a day in Barcelona before flying back home. This will be our first trip to Europe. It will take us about 17 hours to fly there between the layovers and time changes. On the way over, we will stop twice but on the way back, it will only be once. Why they don't have a flight like that going, is any bodies guess.
The MS Walk happens next month but we will be missing it this year. In June will be the golf tournament for Betty's Builders, so we decided to fly then rather than for both. We haven't missed that walk in over 10 years, so it is a little strange not participating.
We are meeting the neighbors on our street and everyone has been wonderful. The last house will be built on the lot right next to us and this will be the last one. Our street will be finished. We wished we had purchased this lot but we were too late. We will just have close neighbors. It will be good ...
Saturday, April 7, 2012
The Waiting Game
We have two waiting games going on for us right now. I am waiting to hear from my neurologist to tell me if I am a candidate to start on Gilenya. I had the blood test and the eye exam. I think because of the holiday, it may be later next week before I find out anything. The reading material I received has been read several times. I did check online for any further information but it all basically said what the reading material said. My neurologist felt that the Avonex was a weaker drug and Gilenya is better. I have been on Avonex since 1997. I would imagine that the other drugs would have a different affect on me and still reach the same conclusion, to cut down the flare-ups that I have been having and slow things down.
There will be two other drugs coming out later this year. One of the new ones, did read very hopeful. It is now being reviewed by the FDA. Right now it is called BG-12. I could wait for that one too if I am not able to take the Gilenya.
The other waiting game has to do with my better half. All the work has been done, the presentation to the owners was a success, and now everyone waits to hear about the decision as to whom will be building the Edmonton Oilers Arena. Clark Construction is hoping they will be awarded this project. It will be the first job outside the US. I have met the Canadian folks that are joint venturing with Clark on this job, and they are very nice. I have already been asked to visit if Sam needs to go there. I wish I could share the renderings of the arena, but they are confidential right now. It is neat though!
I also just found out that if Clark Construction has been chosen, and I think they will, it will mean that we will either go back to California (San Diego area) or to Edmonton, Canada, for a year. What I think will happen is this: We will go back to the San Diego area and Sam will fly back and forth to Canada from there. We should know what the decision will be by the middle of next week, April 9-13.
We ordered patio furniture finally. We are getting another chair, that rocks and swivels, a love seat, a side table, and a coffee table. We still don't have a dining table for the chairs to go around but at least we have a little more seating. That table will be next on the list, so we can have meals outside.
We are slowly moving out of boxes. The book case from IKEA is already full. We will need to get another piece of furniture to hold the other things we have that hasn't found a home yet. I am hoping very soon that I will have my space to do my crafts and scrap booking. It will be so nice when I don't have to put everything away because someone wanted to see the house.
Speaking of the house, the California house should have a closing date sometime next week. It will depend on how fast all the papers are put together for escrow. All the documents are there, but someone has to put it all together and they aren't in a rush like the rest of us. It is still a go for the sale and it will such a relief to have that portion behind us.
There will be two other drugs coming out later this year. One of the new ones, did read very hopeful. It is now being reviewed by the FDA. Right now it is called BG-12. I could wait for that one too if I am not able to take the Gilenya.
The other waiting game has to do with my better half. All the work has been done, the presentation to the owners was a success, and now everyone waits to hear about the decision as to whom will be building the Edmonton Oilers Arena. Clark Construction is hoping they will be awarded this project. It will be the first job outside the US. I have met the Canadian folks that are joint venturing with Clark on this job, and they are very nice. I have already been asked to visit if Sam needs to go there. I wish I could share the renderings of the arena, but they are confidential right now. It is neat though!
I also just found out that if Clark Construction has been chosen, and I think they will, it will mean that we will either go back to California (San Diego area) or to Edmonton, Canada, for a year. What I think will happen is this: We will go back to the San Diego area and Sam will fly back and forth to Canada from there. We should know what the decision will be by the middle of next week, April 9-13.
We ordered patio furniture finally. We are getting another chair, that rocks and swivels, a love seat, a side table, and a coffee table. We still don't have a dining table for the chairs to go around but at least we have a little more seating. That table will be next on the list, so we can have meals outside.
We are slowly moving out of boxes. The book case from IKEA is already full. We will need to get another piece of furniture to hold the other things we have that hasn't found a home yet. I am hoping very soon that I will have my space to do my crafts and scrap booking. It will be so nice when I don't have to put everything away because someone wanted to see the house.
Speaking of the house, the California house should have a closing date sometime next week. It will depend on how fast all the papers are put together for escrow. All the documents are there, but someone has to put it all together and they aren't in a rush like the rest of us. It is still a go for the sale and it will such a relief to have that portion behind us.
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