Day 23

Last Thursday I took my second dose of my new medicine Cimzia. It has now been 23 days in and I am starting to see a slight improvement. My pain level has gone down tremendously and it has helped me to become a lot less dependent on pain meds. I have attached a pic of one of my injections. Alien-like, right?

Day 5

Today has been a pretty normal day. I had a bit of pain to deal with this morning but my friend Mr. Vicodin a.k.a. "Mr. V" took care of that. The weather is all kinds of crazy, like usual. Today my window decided to not go all the way up when I was out running errands so I came back to a slightly damp passengers seat. It was bright and sunny when I left my car and then I come back to rain and a cold front. My car is at the stage where it is kind of getting old and everything is not going as smoothly as before. So now anytime I go anywhere I am going to have to do a window check.

Last night I got to go out for awhile. I had dinner at the new Ra in the Town and Country City Center with a friend. I usually like to go to Ra in Highland Village but on Sunday night it gets super ghetto. Sounds strange considering Highland Village is an upscale area but take my word for it, you don't want to be there on a Sunday night. The City Center location was fun and we had a great time and will be going out again this weekend. So maybe things are starting to look up after all.

Day 3

It has now been three days since I got my first series of injections and life is pretty much the same. I am happy to report that I am not experiencing any side effects from the Cimzia. I am still having random body aches. Right now I am laying flat on my back on top of a heating pad. I am hoping to get out of the house a bit later today. Marisa is in town for the Cookoff so hopefully I will get to spend a bit of time with her. Yesterday I spoke to some reps for Cimzia and I found out that may be able to get the drug for free because they have some kind of reimbursement program. I will keep everyone updated on that. If they pay for the remainder of the co-pay on the drug it will save over $1000 a year. Awesome, I know.

I am feeling a lot better about the break up situation. Some days are a bit harder than others but overall I think I am just ready to move on. It helps that I have shut off all contact. 2010 has been off to a difficult start for me. I'm hoping for things to turn around for me in the next quarter.

Cimzia

Today was my first injection of my new medicine called Cimzia. It came in a two pack of injections and I injected both into my left hip. Surprising enough the shots didn't hurt at all. They were huge and awkward looking. I will post a pic tomorrow. The drug can start to work as soon as two weeks but it may take up to six weeks. So far I have not experienced any side effects which is also a plus. One time I took a medicine called Remicade and it made me throat start to close up while I was getting the infusion and I wasn't able to breathe. Horrible, I know. It was like I was drowning above water. I know I am completely out of remission because I am starting to experience things happening to my body that occurred a few years back when I was really sick. Like right now my arms and legs are cramping up. Imagine the way you would feel after a crazy workout session. That is what I am feeling coupled with never ending lower back pain. Oh, and on top of it all I'm dealing with the fallout from a messy relationship. Right now Vicodin is my best friend.

Tough Times

OMG, things are so difficult for me right now. I feel so alone right now and it is the worst feeling. I feel like I am all alone and no one is there to stand with me. Being sick again has been so hard. I feel like it has overtaken my life. I never know how I will feel when I wake up. Some days I feel okay and I go on about my life and other days I can't get out of bed. I try to explain it to the ones around me but I just don't think they get it. I had forgotten was it was like to be so broken. I got a few years where I was feeling better and was really living life to the fullest. I was able to graduate college, travel to Europe and get a part time job. All things I wouldn't have been able to do a few years ago. It was awesome. I have been trying to get a new drug approved for the last three weeks and have had zero luck. I spoke to a lady today and she asked me when I needed the drug and when I told her that I needed it three weeks ago. She quickly told me she flagged my case and put on it that I was in severe pain and told me to call back tomorrow. So frustrating!!!! I will keep you updated on the new drug progress. So for now I am going to take a deep breath, count to ten and try to get some sleep.

Spring Cleaning

Today I took on the daunting task of cleaning my closets and drawers. I was honest with myself and gave away everything that I no longer wore. Usually when i clean through things I give away the bare minimum, leaving stuff that I really don't wear. This time I got rid of anything that I hadn't worn in the past year. I actually went through each garment in my closet and tried things on that I was unsure about. I made two piles. One pile will be donated to the Salvation Army or Red Cross and the other pile are dresses that will be given to one of my cousins who is still in high school. In cleaning out my closets and drawers I expected to uncover things that I was missing. Especially a specific Alexander McQueen skull scarf. Unfortunately it was not uncovered. Boo! I did find some great dresses that I had forgotten about a brand new Versace tie. Random, I know. So the search continues... (as well as the cleaning)

Test Results

Biopsy results came back normal! At least I don't have colon cancer. I guess that is one major plus. Negative part of it all is that it means my drugs aren't working again and I will have to switch biological drugs. New medicines are always so tricky. You never know how your body is going to react. It is definitely scary. I'm still having some pain but at least it is manageable.

On a happier note, I did get some really good news this morning. I found out one of my best friends is moving back from Colorado. It will be nice to have her back in the mix. She won't be moving back until late April but I know it will be so much fun when she gets here.