Lupus and Listless Grocery Shopping

We certainly don’t need tomato sauce!

We could stop right there with the article title and begin delving into the woes of shopping while listless, weary, and exhausted from lupus.  But, that sounds way too depressing!  With your permission, our musings can head in a different direction.  This idea is little about fatigue and completely about trusting my memory!

Recently, my husband consented to go along on a trip to Costco to buy many giant-sized packages of groceries to feed the five grandchildren (and their mom and dad) who are temporarily living with us.  Then, a quiet little “how can I possibly do that” panic overtook me when he responded, “okay, let’s go right now”.  There was no shopping list, and I didn’t have time to write one!  What mattered most was having a willing cart pusher and muscular package lifter to help.

Yes, there’s Plenty of Mustard!

Shopping listlessly (is that really a word?) with lupus is never a very good idea, mostly because of the well-confirmed short-term memory failures in my past.  Listlessness made me too likely to purchase items already on my shelf at home while forgetting to buy the things that are needed the most.  With my short term memory in a somewhat challenged state due to impacts of CNS lupus involvement, shopping with a well thought out list is usually a much better idea!

A nifty high tech solution suddenly popped into an otherwise not so clear brain.  Why not go through the kitchen and just take pictures of what IS in the cupboards, and then check the pictures on my cell phone if we cannot remember whether we need an item.  So, my husband patiently waited, smirked and chuckled a little while I went through the cupboards speedily snapping photos with my cell camera, and even held the fridge door for me for my impromptu visual inventory.  So after a quick dash around the kitchen, it was time to set out for some listless grocery shopping.  Had we stumbled upon a great new technique to simplify shopping?  Maybe not, but perhaps we could spend the grocery dollars a little more wisely than without the photos.

We always need bottled water in AZ!

As we headed out in my husband’s pickup truck, there were a few minutes between home and Costco for glancing at the photos to see what might have been on a list if one actually was written.  Soon, we were walking up and down the Costco aisles filling the cart.  Believe it or not, the “listless method” actually worked well.  During those moments of matrimonial debate about what we should buy, a photo became the final judge.  Why had this not occurred to me before?  There is nothing like virtually taking the kitchen along to remove uncertainty.  In one instance, mustard was at issue, but the picture of an unopened bottle on the shelf solved the question quite nicely.

While it is unlikely list writing will stop completely at our house, perhaps once in a while I will pull out this newly minted approach when time to plan is at a premium.  I can count on the perfect recall of my digital record in those moments when recall by my lupus challenged memory cannot be trusted.  We will put this idea on the “one more use for a cellphone” list!

Separating Systemic Lupus from Traumatic Injuries

Separating the Injury Claims

When a lupus patient has an auto accident, work comp injury, or some other personal injury where an accident insurance claim may be involved, sorting out treatment and claims can get pretty tricky.  Personal experience with these type of insurance claims provided some perspectives about working with doctors to sort out each new injury, and distinguish it from previous injuries and chronic illness.  The most recent auto accident that happened makes dealing with several issues fresh all over again!

Years ago, two different injuries resulted in insurance claims.  First, an auto accident followed a few weeks later by a fall down stairs at work.  Communication was the key to sorting out the differences between injuries.  Now, a recent auto accident was followed by a trip and fall at the shopping mall, and the same approach is needed once again.

Granted, with auto-immune illness, there are always many days with pain and discomfort, but new injuries seem to make coping even more difficult.   Day by day it has taken patience through the recovery, meanwhile remembering to ask God for the grace to be able to refrain from too much grumbling.  This too will pass, and the Bible says that the rain falls on everyone, so the storm becomes a little personal.  The new traumas also caused lupus to flare for several weeks.

Because of ongoing medical problems from chronic disease, communication with a doctor after a traumatic injury is very important.  Providing very complete, specific, and accurate information helped doctors and employers understand new symptoms and distinguish accident-related time off work.  Although several past accident injury claims were unfortunate, a few personal kernels of reality and wisdom emerged from the experiences.  While clearly not legal advice (which would be extremely unethical for this non-lawyer to provide), these personal observations may give some helpful insight to others patients with chronic illness who are facing a similar accidental injury situation.

Communicate Well with Your Doctors

Three foundational, if not simplistic, realizations:

1. Only medical problems clearly a result of the accident injury were covered by any of the claims.
2. Unchanged pre-existing medical problems were not part of the injury insurance claims. (Obvious but worth saying)
3. Flares of of pre-existing medical problems clearly triggered by the injury were able to be included in the claims, but only to the degree this diagnosis was included in medical records statements that supported how the autoimmune illness had worsened after the accidents, and because of the accidents.

Four conversations throughout various stages of recovery that it helped to chat with the doctor about:

1. Asking what percent the doctor thought recovery from the first accident was reached, right after the second accident happened.  This helped establish a milestone in the treatment that we would work our way back toward during recovery from the second accident.
2. Asking the doctor about how they thought injuries from the second accident were different than the first.  It helped when the doctor compared and contrasted between both injuries, and this gave clear information to use talking to both insurance companies.
3. If the doctor doesn’t mention the idea, suggesting the concept to the doctor of a “window” in the recovery from the first accident while the second accident recovery was in progress.  This helped work with both insurance companies to make clear agreement about who was paying for what and when.  This helped the first insurance company know what to expect, and to realize they would be resuming responsibility for medical treatment costs after the recovery milestone was reached.
4. Asking about total recovery in percentages after resuming the treatment just for the remaining first accident injuries, helped keep things straight with the insurance company.  Ongoing conversation about status of recovery with the doctor and claims adjuster helped keep everyone’s expectations and timelines clear.

June 14th is Flag Day – Happy Birthday, Sis!

After having a couple of previous injuries, three serious car accidents, a work comp fall down stairs on the job, and two slip and fall injuries, personal experiences helped clarify the impact of an accident injury on overall lupus condition and general health.  It seems that if both adjusters and doctors had not been part of the conversations during recovery, proving diagnosis of increased lupus activity due to the traumatic injury would have been much harder.  It seemed better for everyone to be involved in ongoing discussion about the degree pre-accident health had be reached.

Of course, with lupus or any autoimmune disease, there is no “back to normal”, but with good communication, it can become clear when near “normal” health was regained.  Each day, no matter what it brings, is a glorious new day to be alive, what ever “normal” ends up being.

Back to school a little late with lupus

Returning to College

Returning to college after a 34 year gap has been an exciting adventure, and after the finish of the first class, the jury is in with a verdict.  This IS possible, even with lupus.  Finding an adult degree completion program that would work with lupus was essential.

Early morning college classes were not an option, so traditional college was out of consideration long before planning to going back even started.  Planning activities in the morning with lupus is never a good idea!  There had to be a better way.

Figuring out the funding

When a program was located that would honor all the work put in over four years of college, split between two schools, and make the most of it to complete the degree, I was glad.  The second college started an adult degree completion program a year ago, and they began sending out emails.

After figuring out the logistics and funding, the day finally came for registering and signing up on the dotted line!

Plenty of work, but no exams!

It was finally time to go back to school, and it was both exciting and a little scary.  An unexpected blessing came on the first night of class in January, when the professor announced there were no exams!  A brain, sometimes impaired by short-term memory problems from lupus, heard that news and did an exuberant back flip!

What could be better than that?  Lots of books to read, awesome!
Major research to do, how fun. Lots of papers to write, bring it on!
Presentations to make, even better.  But, no exams? Absolutely perfect!

A thing or two to learn!

Now, class number two is already underway, with one down and 13 more to go after this one.  June 2016 does not seem too far away and with prayer, some amazing support from my husband, quiet lupus, and the grace of God, graduation will be 17 months from now.

In between, there might be a thing or two to learn!

The brain fog moment and lupus crossed wires

CNS Lupus strikes unexpectedly

Just when you would like to hope and think it is gone forever and never coming back, lupus brain fog and crossed wires show up again, unexpectedly.  It is not that the head is not on straight, it is just that sometimes, just for a moment, it is unclear what week or day you are in, or what subject you just wrote an email about.  Recently, several similar projects overlapped in the same time and space, and it was a sure prescription for a mental mishap!  While finishing up interviews for one vacant job, new applications just started coming in for another.

Here is where the confusion starts.  Keeping the two recruitments straight was a mental quagmire.  The call was placed just a little too early on a Monday morning for the normal state of my “lupus brain,” and a group of questions were asked and answered as I spoke with an applicant’s work reference.  All throughout the call, it seemed odd how much all the answers were describing skills and abilities that fit the other open job, perfectly!

Returning to my office to re-do the form

After filling out the title of the position on the required form for Human Resources and filling in answers in the comment areas, I signed it.  It was then I realized things had gotten a little murky.

Walking over to my assistant’s desk, I began explaining how unusual it was that the applicant seemed to fit the other position, but not the one she had applied for.  My assistant looked up at me with a very quizzical look, explaining that the answers fit the position that applicant was seeking!

Crossed wires!

The sudden realization hung heavily in the awkward moment, as humility stepped forward, compelled to admit to a mental crossed wire.  Reclaiming the form, and returning to my office to redo it, the correct job title and all the answers were copied into a new version.  Now, the applicant seemed to fit the job perfectly, and even qualified for a second interview.

It is amazing what a little central nervous system lupus can do when you least expect it!  It might even inadvertently alter the course of someone’s career, if not kept in check by a good assistant, not afraid to say, “what are you thinking?” when it is needed most!  A good assistant is hard to come by, and no, you cannot have mine!

Managing Lupus While Managing Grief

Stress of loss

The stress of loss

Losing a loved one is hard on everyone, and it seems we can never be ready for it.  Over fifteen years ago mom passed away unexpectedly, and now my dad has gone after a four-year battle with Alzheimer’s.  Although I thought I was adjusting to the idea, and in a way I was already grieving the loss of my father as I knew him before Alzheimer’s, it feels different than I thought it would.

It is just difficult any way you look at it.  When people you love are gone, it leaves a vacuum where a warm loving soul once was in your daily life, and it hurts.  With a deep ache beating in your chest, your heart sobs in silence.  Pain is stressful, whether the cause is physical or emotional, and that stress has predictable influences on health.  Stress can weaken us physically, weaken our immune system, or aggravate an auto-immune disease, such as lupus.  Sustained stresses like grief, stretch out their load on the normal endocrine balance, that is already somewhat out of whack when a person has auto-immune disease.

Fight or Flight

The part of our body chemistry that produces a surge of helpful chemicals to sustain us during a fight-or-flight situation or crisis, becomes very strained during periods of prolonged, sustained stress.  This crisis mode response can only continue for limited time, while glands pump out “emergency” help.  After a while, a body’s chemical response to continued stress becomes weaker and weaker, and the person experiencing sustained stress has a seriously reduced ability to cope in the face of continued pressure.  For someone with lupus, ongoing presence of stressful situations become the perfect environment for lupus to flare.  So, it becomes especially important to communicate well with our doctors about the major life events we are experiencing and about how these stressors are impacting physical health.

The storms of life

The storms of life

Over the years, many helpful articles about employees going through life’s most stressful events have passed over my desk in human resource magazines and legal management journals.  Usually they merit at least a few minutes of my attention, since employees routinely drop by my office, sit down with a sigh opposite me, and start to talk about the major events taking place in their personal lives.  Sometimes, employees have multiple stressful events raining down on them at one time, and some face virtual storms of stress, and even rarely an occasional emotional or spiritual hurricane!

My heart goes out to these burdened co-workers, and I privately pray earnestly for them, because I know personally how hard it can be to cope when flood waters of stress wreak havoc and bring unexpected mayhem.  It is no wonder these overwhelming events are commonly called “the storms of life.”

Stress affects people physically

The different responses people show to these events get my attention, and often I’m motivated to start a conversation about what they are experiencing.  Ever since reading an article years ago about how stress affects people physically, I have been especially focused on how it impacts employees, friends and others in my personal life when they go through unusually stressful circumstances.  What I see most often is employees who struggle with either the severe illness or death of a family member, face surgery, are moving, their spouse has lost their job or they are having turmoil or difficulty between members of their household.

I too, have had my share of these stressful situations, and some of these have triggered past lupus flares and at times some lasting escalation of lupus severity.

Measuring the stress of life’s events

Measuring Stress

A couple of research psychiatrists, Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe, studied over 5,000 people to understand better how stress affects health.  They developed a time-honored list of the most common stressful life events that people routinely face, assigning a “stress score” to each type of stressful event.  The total score falls into one of three basic ranges of impact.  People with lupus or any other auto-immune disease may easily find that their stress score indicates a moderate or high likelihood of illness.  The items on the list may seem obvious, but reviewing it was thought-provoking for me.

Striking up a conversation about the effects of stress on people who are going through rough times usually starts by mentioning that they are experiencing one or more of the major stressful life events on “the list:”

Life Event	Stress Score
Death of a spouse	100
Divorce	73
Marital separation	65
Death of a close family member	63
Imprisonment	63
Personal injury or illness	53
Marriage	50
Dismissal from work	47
Marital reconciliation	45
Retirement	45
Change in health of family member	44
Pregnancy	40
Business readjustment	39
Gain a new family member	39
Sexual difficulties	39
Change in financial state	38
Death of a close friend	37
Change to different line of work	36
Change in frequency of arguments	35
Major mortgage	32
Foreclosure of mortgage or loan	30
Change in responsibilities at work	29
Child leaving home	29
Trouble with in-laws	29
Outstanding personal achievement	28
Beginning or end school	26
Spouse starts or stops work	26
Change in living conditions	25
Revision of personal habits	24
Trouble with boss	23
Change in residence	20
Change in schools	20
Change in working hours or conditions	20
Change in church activities	19
Change in recreation	19
Change in social activities	18
Minor mortgage or loan	17
Change in sleeping habits	16
Change in eating habits	15
Change in number of family reunions	15
Vacation	13
Christmas	12
Minor violation of law	11
TOTAL EVENT RELATED STRESS SCORE:

Add up the numbers of stressful events that apply to you in the past two years to get your own score: _____

How might the level of your life stress be likely to effect your health?  If you are a lupus patient with active disease (53), high medical costs (38) and have lupus affecting your ability to keep up with recreation (19), your social life (18), and pain keeping you from sleeping well (15), you could easily have a score over 140.  Add just one more event on the list, like moving (2) or getting pulled over for a traffic ticket (11) and you have a moderate risk of illness.

Score of 300+: At risk of illness.
Score of 150-299: Risk of illness is moderate (reduced by 30% from the above risk).
Score <150: Only have a slight risk of illness.

Read More about the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale @ Wikipedia.

The speech about stress

Down-to-earth advice

As the manager of a government legal department, when an employee goes through these rough times, one of my roles is to approve sick leave, bereavement leave or vacation, or to encourage them to otherwise take care of themselves.  After pointing out that they are going through one of life’s most stressful experiences, the advice is usually down-to-earth and pretty simple: 1) breathe, 2) drink, 3) sleep, 4) rest and relax.

Why?  Breath deeply, because so often people seem to psychologically hold their breath during intense stress, and deep cleansing breaths help reduce the effects of stress.  Drink plenty of water because it helps the brain function, supports the immune system and flushing out toxins from the body (usually I am the one who goes around offering glasses of water to everyone.)  Get enough sleep and rest, because stress is exhausting and emotionally fatiguing, and lack of sleep just increases stress even more.  If proper to my relationship with the person, I also suggest prayer, Bible reading and hymn singing in the times when sleep just doesn’t come, because finding spiritual rest through these alternative activities can help in the absence of sleep.  Rest and relax, because they need to be reminded to give themselves some slack and to realize that what they are going through is a normal human response to stress, and to be expected.

Every new employee we hire gets a similar version of this speech as part of their orientation, along with explaining that almost every employee we have hired in the past 25 years (except one exceptional person who either listened especially well to my advice or was just an rare physical specimen) became sick within their first month on the job.  Every employee gets the speech again as a friendly reminder, every time they go through something on the top half of the list, or any combination of things from anywhere on the list.

This type of stress seriously affected my health many years ago.  Just one week after my mother died, my father and I both visited his doctor to treat our severe bronchitis.  Grief and bronchitis do not go well together!  During the year that followed, I was naturally still grieving deeply, and that normal process had its impacts on my body and my lupus.  Within a few weeks after losing my mother, I was hospitalized with a ruptured abdominal artery, infected appendix and ruptured ovary (a very close call!) and within six more months my spine destabilized around an old trauma (and required neck braces and neuro rehab) while my lupus escalated to organ (CNS) involvement.  Within just one year of mom’s death I had graduated from treatment with only plaquenil to requiring adding weekly methotrexate, daily high dose prednisone and Imuran (azathioprine).  For ten more years, my medications never could be rolled back to the earlier levels, and eventually even those would no longer control my lupus.

Four resolves in grief

So, it is time to follow my advice.  My hope is that as I now grieve my father’s death in the coming weeks and months, the advice repeatedly shared with others will ring in my own ears and hopefully may help me remember to grieve healthfully.  These are my four resolves…

Breathe, hydrate, sleep, rest and relax!

First, I will breathe!  Taking long draughts of air, in and out, deep and full, inhaling, cleansing, body-calming breaths.  I will take my asthma sprays on schedule, and listen for my body telling me when it is having trouble, and I will make a point to intentionally breathe.

Then, I will hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.  Easy to say and harder to do.  But now, there is no fluid better for me than the cleansing goodness of pure, refreshing water.  I will carry it with me in the Arizona heat as I drive around, at home or work pour another glass often, and even set a timer if necessary to remember to drink water.  Eight ounces every hour, would not be too much water!

Next, sleep is the hardest resolve to carry out right now, but I will keep working at getting the sleep I need.  Since lupus robs me of so much sleep when I wake up in the middle of the night with pain, this takes some extra effort.  Yet, I am promising myself to make the most of my opportunities to sleep.  This means I need to replace my broken c-pap machine as soon as possible, since I fall asleep faster, rest better and wake up less often at night when I am using it.  Using my c-pap for my sleep apnea helps reduce fatigue, and that’s a good idea, especially now.

Last, I know that prayer, Bible reading, singing hymns and playing them at the piano are forms of worship that can become a bridge to real rest.  When I simply cannot sleep, I will turn to these until I get exhausted enough to fall back asleep, and in the process find a different kind of peace and rest.

When emotional or physical pain robs me of sleep, there is no place like the shelter of the Most High to calm and comfort my weary soul!  In the shadow of His wings, I sing for joy!  Even in my grief, even in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.  These were some of the last words I read to my father from the Bible a few hours before he left us.

Now, they speak peace and health to my heart as I grieve and remember.

Benlysta for Lupus, the first 1,000 days

1,000 days of Benlysta

This week (yesterday) marked a quiet little anniversary, the 1,000 day mark after beginning monthly Benlysta infusions for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus on August 24, 2011.  So, without pomp or celebration, today begins as day 1,001 since starting Benlysta.  From the beginning, the Benlysta adventure is chronicled here, and a special page indexes all the posts about this journey.

This 1,000 day Benlysta milestone gave me pause to ponder whether there were any other 1,000 day milestones I could  use to compare to this span of time.  A little research led to an interesting group of comparisons, some were serious and some were fun, some were history and culture changing, and some were of fleeting and trivial impact.

1,000 days might be enough to carry out significant change, or long enough to waste accomplishing absolutely nothing meaningful at all. I will let you be the judge, but history will judge with perspective, and ultimately God will always be the final judge.

How long is a thousand days?

1,000 days is equal to exactly 2 years, 270 days (unless one of the years is a leap year, resulting in 1,000 days being equal to 2 years, 269 days. Also, 1,000 days expressed as a decimal fraction is 2.74 years.

1,000 day comparisons

• The approximate length of the public ministry of Jesus Christ from the first miracle in Cana to his death on a cross outside the City of Jerusalem, as documented in the first four books of New Testament, the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  History and life changing!
• The length of a Columbian civil war (The Thousand Days War) fought between 1899 and 1902 over an ideological conflict between liberals and conservatives that divided families and took the lives of 100,000 Colombians before a mutual cease-fire was reached.  An end to strife.
• The approximate length of the presidential administration of John F. Kennedy, that lasted 1037 days, from his January 20, 1961 inauguration  to his assassination on November 22, 1963.  A death that shook the nation.
• 1,000 days from the start of a woman’s pregnancy until her child’s 2nd birthday, a crucial period for proper nutrition that allows children to develop without permanent cognitive and physical delays.  Important beginnings.
• How many consecutive days a 6th grade boy from Holmen, Wisconsin wore a Green Bay Packer’s player Aaron Rodgers’ jersey, while living in a household of Minnesota Vikings fans.  Much ado about nothing!
• How long Kate Middleton has been a duchess after marrying Prince William.  She reached the 1,000 days milestone in her marriage and acquired royalty earlier this week on May 20, 2014.  A royal beginning.
• The length of time it takes for Landana 1,000 Days Dutch Gouda cheese to naturally ripen, while stored at a closely guarded secret specific temperature and humidity. The fruit of patience.
• The length of time the famous Schatz 1000 day clocks can run without winding. Schatz 1000 day clocks bear a “54” in a circle on the back of their movements, and were first made in 1954. An engineering marvel for its day.

Lupus before the 1,000 days

My past 1,000 days with Benlysta have significantly stabilized my Lupus, after all other treatments we tried before it were exhausted.  1,000 days ago I had come out of a five-year, Rituxan-induced remission, and was facing the likelihood of an early disability retirement.  Those were rough days, things were getting worse by the week, and I felt absolutely physically miserable most the time.  But, I was not in despair!  The joy of the Lord was my strength, and my daily walk in dependence upon Him helped me keep personal peace, patience and hope.

August 24, 2011

1,000 days ago, my joints were swollen constantly, my CNS symptoms were lasting all day long some days, I was increasing unable to manage my work, had significant cognitive difficulty with memory, problem solving, logical thinking, written business communication, and managing my government law office.  I was in an unending siege of bone-tired fatigue.  Mouth and nasal ulcers were almost constant, and my health was a wreck.  I was in the middle of a long, slow, unremitted lupus flare.

While trying to keep up with my job, I was struggling.  I was using up all my sick leave, plus using all my vacation leave in lieu of sick leave, and occasionally had to take a few days off without pay to deal with Lupus.  It was a rugged ride and a very challenging adventure!

Lupus status on day 1,001

Benlysta after 1,000 days

Gradually after beginning Benlysta, my Lupus problems began to lessen and then become generally well controlled.  I still have bad mornings, but now rarely have to take more than a half-day off due to lupus.  I continually have a modest balance left of my monthly sick leave accrual, and have not had to dip into other types of leave for lupus-related work absences in over a year or so.  Although I don’t feel like my health is “amazing,” most days I feel generally well and handle my daily responsibilities.

Benlysta is expensive, there is no question, and it cost my employer between $8,000 and $13,000 each month, an annual total of about $100,000 for each of the first two years.  A few months ago, my new doctor learned from representatives at GlaxoSmithKline that I was the only patient receiving Benlysta at a hospital.  They told her I was “famous” to them because of this unusual requirement, and that they all knew immediately who I was when she started describing me and began discussing my case.  I thought that was a little bit spooky!

The first two years of Benlysta cost more than double my current annual cost that my insurance pays now for infusions at my doctor’s office.  Only after leaving my previous out-of-network rheumatologist, it was revealed that the insurance-imposed hospital infusion requirement was strictly because my rheumatologist was an out-of-network doctor.  Now, with my new in-network rheumatologist, the average monthly cost to my self-insured employer is only $3,500, and my cost is an affordable $35 co-pay.

Thankful for Benlysta

I am thankful that because of Benlysta, a premature end and early medical retirement from my career was averted narrowly .  This month, I finally reached full retirement age based on years of service and age, and now qualify for my full government pension.  Now, if for some reason I need to suddenly stop working for health reasons, my full pension is available to support me through life’s next chapter.

My hope is to work at least about 18 months longer, when my retirement percentage formula will reach the last higher level pay adjustment before reaching age 63. I plan to be out and about enjoying new lupus adventures before that age!

 

 

A new lupus adventure in Benlysta infusions

Resuming Benlysta Infusions

This past week marked the restart of Benlysta infusions for my lupus under the care of my new rheumatologist.  For the first time since my lupus diagnosis two decades ago, I am seeing a new rheumatologist.  My new doctor participates in my employer’s group insurance plan and has an in-office infusion center covered by my insurance.  After 2.5 years of Benlysta, my infusions resumed with a mere 6-day lag required to get new prescriptions, get new insurance authorization and coördinate the transfer of my infusions to the new site.

From full-cash pay to HMO rheumatologist

In the past, seeing a doctor outside my insurance coverage meant paying full cash price for the entire cost of office visits and I did this for many years.  Although my earlier specialist was a première rheumatologist of great skill and knowledge, I felt strongly it was time for a change and for lowering out-of-pocket costs for my lupus treatment.  Although my insurance had no problem covering prescriptions written by my out-of-plan doctor, they would not cover his office visits, other procedure or infusions at his in-office site.

In-Hospital Infusion Center

Instead, they required me to receive my Benlysta in a hospital outpatient infusion center covered by my HMO.  All along, I thought this was my carrier’s policy for all infusions, but learned only recently that this hospital limitation was specific to infusions prescribed by out-of-plan physicians.  Now, bringing all my rheumatology care under the HMO, it looks as though I’ll have no charges for infusions unless I see the doctor, too.  The Benlysta copays assistance program covers the actual drug copays.

Now, with my new doctor’s office so close to home, infusions may fit into my schedule during lunch breaks on Fridays while telecommuting from home.  During infusions, I’ll be able to use my work laptop to connect over the Internet to my office.  My previous rheumatologist and infusion locations were both a half-hour from my home, usually requiring a full hour of driving time, plus infusion time and doctor exams, requiring me to use a half-day of sick leave each time.

Slashing the medical miles

With only 3 minutes to travel to my new doctor and infusion site, sick leave used for treatment should drop dramatically!  Because of recurring moderate flares and plenty of bad lupus days,  most of my annual sick leave gets used up just about as fast as I earn it. Add to that a few “normal” non-lupus sick days, and I generally need all the leave time I can bank up.  My vacation days for “fun” get cut short using it to make up for sick leave I’ve exhausted.

Now, with most of my medical travel time almost eliminated, time off work for infusions is serious shortened or eliminated.  After some quick math calculations, I realized to my delight that I may conserve vacation equal to 8 days each year that I previously took off to go to the rheumatologist and to get infusions.  12 half days for infusions + 4 half days for the rheumatologist = 16 half days of sick leave (usually taken as vacation leave).

Wow, that’s a lot of time I’ve spent in my car and at treatments away from work… almost a whole day per month!

Is there a problem or two?

First, I didn’t get to say goodbye to my nurses at the hospital where I was getting my infusions for the past two and a half years.  I will have to go back and drop in on them with some flowers and a plate of brownies.  I want to thank them in person for their kindness and genuine concern.

Next, there will be the challenge of deciding how to spend my re-found vacation days!  It won’t be hard to select a couple of enticing destinations.  Perhaps head out on a new, exiting lupus adventure?  Do a little butterfly photography at Spring Butterfly Exhibit of the local Arizona Desert Botanical Gardens or the nearby Butterfly Wonderland? Perhaps, go to the mountains or visit my grandchildren?

Now, I’ll get to decide how to spend the recouped 8 days, instead of my lupus deciding for me!

A thank you is in order!

Thank you to these smiling infusion nurses who helped me every month.  I will really miss them!

My Smiling Infusion Center Nurses
Thank you for 2.5 years of awesome care!