If we were having coffee today… I’d start by sharing the BEST news of the month: Olive is officially in remission! Many readers may not remember Baby Olive, but she’s my best friend’s daughter, her rainbow baby after numerous miscarriages. Then, at 13 months old, Olive was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. Less than ten people worldwide have ever had this type of cancer, and none of them were as young as Olive. She was given a 9% chance of surviving. It was a scary, scary time. But Olive made it through an incredibly dangerous surgery (her only chance of survival, and only one surgeon in the country was willing to do it; they had to travel to Boston, in the middle of Covid, with an immunocompromised baby for the procedure) and so many rounds of chemo, and nothing stopped her. And now, she’s six years old! Mikaela says all the time that watching Olive grow up doesn’t make her sad because there was a very real possibility she would never grow up. And here she is: in remission and one of the lucky ones.
If we were having coffee today… we might need to wipe away some tears before we move on to our next topic of conversation! You might wonder how my psoriatic arthritis journey is going. The good news is that I continue to taper off my steroids with no side effects. Every now and then, I’ll wake up, and my finger will be stiff, or the inside of my elbow will hurt, but it generally goes away within a few hours. I tapered down to 4mg this week, and I’m starting to notice a little hip pain. Nothing terrible yet, but I’m keeping an eye on it. Getting approved for Humira has been a process, though. Of course, insurance denied the prescription, which my rheum told me would likely happen since they want me to try the generic version first. Here’s how long this process has been: my rheum sent the script on June 25, it was denied on July 3, so my rheum sent the generic script on July 6, and it was finally approved on July 16. But does that mean I have the medication? Nope! The specialty pharmacy has to process the prescription, and yesterday, I spent almost half an hour on the phone to set up copay assistance for this med through my insurance. And that’s because this med is expensive (my copay for a one-month supply would have been almost $1,000 without this extra assistance), but now it will be zero dollars. Yay! I’m just hoping I can start my new med before July is over. I don’t feel like that’s too much to ask our healthcare system, is it?!
If we were having coffee today… you might ask about my upcoming New England road trip! I am slowly crafting our itinerary, and it’s mostly complete. I just need to put some finishing touches on the final part of our journey. We have booked our accommodations, which were pricey because a) we are bougie travelers and b) peak foliage season means higher rates. We’re staying at a hotel in Boston (Back Bay area), the cutest B&B in Maine (in Bar Harbor), and a glorious two-bedroom Airbnb in Vermont (near Stowe). We fly into Boston, spend three nights there, and then pick up the rental car and road trip up to Maine. After two nights in Maine, we’ll mosey our way over to Vermont by way of New Hampshire, and then spend four nights in Vermont. Keep your fingers crossed that all those gorgeous fall colors show off for these Florida girls!
If we were having coffee today… I’d be happy to tell you all about the research I’ve been doing to figure out the right hair routine. I have very fine hair with very oily roots. As in, I can take a shower in the morning and by the evening, my roots already look greasy. It’s very frustrating! I spent a full year trying to train my hair to need less washing, but that’s just not how fine hair works, unfortunately. So, if I ever want to wear my hair down, I have to wash it first. (Dry shampoo helps, but it also makes it really flat and lifeless.) The biggest things I’ve learned so far:
- Only shampoo my scalp (it’ll clean the rest of my hair when I rinse it out)
- Add clarifying shampoo to my routine (especially useful for those of us with oily roots and/or hard water)
- Use probably 75% less conditioner than I think I need (I know this, but I kinda go crazy on the conditioner when my hair really only needs a tiny bit at the very ends)
Even with all these changes, though, I’m trying to accept the fact that I’m never going to be someone who can go days without washing my hair and still have it look bouncy and beautiful. My hair just needs a little extra TLC, and that’s okay!
If we were having coffee today… I’d confide that I’m planning on moving forward with an endometrial ablation. I guess I needed a year to come to terms with the fact that it means I’ll likely never experience pregnancy, but since I’m positive I do not want to have children, I know it’s the right decision. I have to get another transvaginal ultrasound to measure my fibroids (it’s been a year since I had the original ultrasound, so I have to go through the process again), and then I’ll meet with a specialist for an endometrial biopsy. After that, the procedure will be scheduled! They only do this procedure once a month, but I’m hoping to get in by the end of the year.
If we were having coffee today… I couldn’t leave our time together without talking about the loves of my life! Eloise and Lila continue to be the most perfect babies there ever were. The cutest thing Lila does now is that she knows when it’s time for her food to be dispensed in her automatic feeder. She will either sit in front of it a few minutes beforehand or come running into the living room when she hears those little pieces of kibble hitting her bowl! A girl after my own heart. Eloise just had bloodwork done and her teefers cleaned, and she’s in perfect health. She also gained a little weight over the last six months, which is great news. She is still under 8 lbs, my little peanut!
What would you tell me during our coffee date?
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