Visit to My DD (Dear Doctor)

Hi Friends,

I saw Doctor Cohen today and he was a real pick-me-up:-) He agrees that the methotrexate is working, and I can take it for a very long time. And I don't have to do the chemo infusion of Rituxan that I was scheduled for this month. So happy day for me AND since the methotrexate in pill form is making me so pukey...I get to switch to a shot form. Thank God I have a sweet husband who has no problem shooting me up (with legal drugs of course), so I am golden. Never thought I'd be so happy to get a shot in my butt -- a real pain in the ass, for most people -- but not for me. And because it's a shot, it's supposed to bypass your stomach, which should be helpful. I also got more percocet and permission to stay on it forever if necessary. However, since it takes 6 months for the methotrexate to achieve its complete effects -- I'm hopefully going to continue to get better and be able to go down or maybe even completely get off it at some point.

So, the only glitch today was getting the RX filled for all the shots. I spent an hour at CVS, and ended up calling Dr. Cohen on his cell phone and having him talk to the pharmacist. Still too much confusion, because it's a larger dose than they're used to giving. So, tomorrow, I am going to see Rajiv in Thousand Oaks -- he's the pharmacist in Dr. Cohen's old office building...and Dr. Cohen and I decided it will work better to have him do it. They sure make us sick people work to get chemo drugs...I mean do they really have a problem with people coming in and wanting them? Trust me, they're good for staying alive -- but not much fun:-) So back to Thousand Oaks tomorrow -- I am going to go first thing after I wake up, and then since that will probably take forever -- I'll come home and sleep after the outing. And I'll feel better knowing that the drugs are here for my Saturday shot. Cameron is still sick enough to stay home from school, but well enough to be my substitute teacher while I'm off on my outing.

So, good night for now. According to Dr. Cohen, I need to be OK with a few bumps in the road -- but I'm hoping for smoother sailing for now...

Much Love,
Michele