The high of my week was the Yesteryear book event! I truly did not expect Caro Claire Burke to come to my little town during her book tour, but I’m so glad she did! Her book talk was hosted by my favorite local indie bookstore (Tombolo Books), and I’m pretty sure it was one of their biggest events yet! The place was packed. I loved hearing Caro talk about her process of writing the book and the path to getting it published (she’s been writing fiction for TWELVE YEARS, you guys, and this is her debut!). I tried not to fangirl too hard when I got my book signed, but I just adore her so much!
The low of my week was dealing with some back-and-forth issues between my pharmacy and my rheumatologist’s office. The not-so-fun news about my psoriatic arthritis treatment is that my rheumatologist wants me to start injections. Basically, while my current medication (methotrexate) has improved my symptoms, I’m still on a moderate steroid dose. If I miss even one day of the steroid, my symptoms return. So that’s a clue that my lower inflammation numbers are closely tied to the steroid.
This means it’s time for the next phase of figuring out my PsA treatment! I’ll still be on methotrexate, but at 25mg, and they recommend injections over pills at that dose because some people’s bodies don’t absorb the medication well (it would be TEN pills!). I am very nervous about giving myself an injection once a week, but I’d rather go with the option that’ll help me know sooner whether the dose is working.
Anyway, getting these damn syringes has been such a cluster. I was supposed to start the injections last week, but the syringe order was sitting in pharmacy purgatory for days and days. The actual medication was filled pretty quickly, so when I went to the pharmacy to pick that up, I asked about the syringes, and they said they were waiting on my rheum to confirm that a different size syringe was ok to use. So then I called my rheum, and they said they didn’t have any record of the pharmacy calling them! Argh. The rheum’s office said they would call the pharmacy, but I never heard back from them. Then, the next day, I looked at my pharmacy app, and my syringe order was gone. What the what?! So, I called the pharmacy, and the pharmacist told me that she had gone ahead and ordered a different type of syringe that didn’t need to be approved by insurance and would be the same price. (She made this change right before she left for the day, and was planning on updating the script in the portal in the morning, but I got the jump on her.) I’ll finally have the syringes today so I can give myself my first injection. Yay?
Phew. I guess I need to get ready for all of this pharmacy runaround to happen as I try different treatment methods for PsA.
I’m currently reading two books! I am thoroughly enjoying We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian, a queer historical romance that is so damn cute it hurts. And I just started James by Percival Everett. Only 40 pages in, but I’m enjoying it so far!
A Reel that made me smile was this cat video that I could watch over and over again. (Yes, I’m back on Instagram. But only for the cat and dachshund videos.)
A show I watched this week was Friends! I am zooming through my rewatch of season 6, and it’s filling me with a lot of nostalgia and happiness.
The best money I spent this week was on an Oura ring! It was on my May goals list to buy an Oura ring, and it happened yesterday. I can’t wait for it to arrive! It’s a little scary to spend so much money on a tiny piece of technology, but I’m really hoping it will provide some great insight into my health.
My plans this weekend include many fun things! Tonight, I am meeting up with some friends to see the musical, Six. (And I just listened to Noble Blood’s episodes about Henry VIII’s wives, so I am prepared). We’re also trying a new restaurant for dinner, so it should be a fun night! Tomorrow, I am podcasting with Bri and have no other plans on the docket. And Sunday, I will run some errands and also have a writing date with Mikaela. At our writing date last weekend, I wrote the first chapter of my novel, which was such a blast! I hope I can keep the momentum going!
What was the high of your week? Have you ever been to a book signing?
I’m reading Yesteryear right now, and it is living up to the hype! The twelve years paid off!
I’m glad it’s living up to the hype for you! I really enjoyed it, even though Natalie was such a hard person to like.
Good luck with the injections! I would be nervous too but sometimes you just have to go with the best way your body is going to absorb medication. My high is that we have houseguests, and honestly I have a little bit of a wine headache this morning! So that’s a low but also a high? I don’t normally drink on a Thursday but then again, I don’t normally see these friends! It’s fun to have them here. They brought their old little schnauzer, and Rex is being a very good boy with him! We have stayed at their house, and the only thing is Rex is VERY excitable, whereas their dog is…old. But it’s cute to see!
Omg, I’m just picturing sweet, dopey Rex being so excited to have a friend at his house! I’m glad he’s being a good boy with him. So adorable!
Injection #1 went better than I thought. The prospect of jabbing myself was a lot more difficult than it actually being DONE.
Ooh, Yesteryear. I wonder how long it will take for my library hold to come in??? I’ve never been to a book signing- it sounds so fun.
Giving myself an injection would be scary- but, you can get used to anything. What a pain about the syringes though. I think that’s one of the worst things about having a chronic condition- having to deal with the doctor/pharmacy rigamarole. Hopefully it will get easier, and I hope the injections work well for you.
Your weekend plans sound fun!
I’ve had such an easy time with pharmacies, so this is the first time I’ve really had to advocate for what I need. It’s been a lot, but I finally got my syringes and they weren’t expensive at all. Woohoo!
I’m about a third of the way through Yesteryear and I hope it gets better because right now it’s just sort of boring and infuriating. Hm. Other people love it, so I’m slogging through because she’s going to be at an event in Madison next week I want to go to.
The high of my week is that my friend’s last day of radiation is today! Woot woot! I’m so happy for her and her family.
Infuriating is the right word for the book, but that’s the point. I despised Natalie, but she’s not supposed to be a likable person! I really appreciated the way Caro Claire Burke chose to write her character. It was an interesting choice!
Hooray for the last day of radiation. What a great milestone!
Ahh! The Yesteryear event sounds so great!!!! I just started it yesterday. Did you feel like some of the talk would be helpful if you want to publish someday?
Good luck with the syringes! They scare me too so I had Steven and my snister do them when I need them. All that said, lots of people learn to do it and I know you will! And how annoying and not surprising at all is that TYPICAL pharmacy/dr runaround. Makes me insane. Glad you are able to get them now!
I am excited to hear what you think of your Oura ring!
Oh yes, after the event, I had so much to say to my writing partner!
I finally got my syringes over the weekend and gave myself the first jab – it wasn’t as bad as I expected. Hopefully that remains true!
Oooh! I will be so interested to know how you like your Oura ring! I think a few of our shared blog friends have one and love it, and I’ve been tossing around the idea of getting one myself but haven’t gotten past the thinking stage.
The first chapter of your novel! I’m so excited you are working on a new writing project. There’s nothing more intoxicating than being absorbed in new characters and their worlds!
I will definitely write a post about my Oura ring experience – maybe in 2-3 months? I’m on Day 2 and slowly getting used to wearing a ring, lol.
It’s been so much fun to dream up these characters and now comes the hard part: actually writing their story!
Gah, dealing with pharmacy and insurance companies in general is blergh!!
The high of my week was Tony coming back from his business trip on Thursday! Lol Also, an unexpected date night yesterday – we saw Obsession (the movie). It was trippy but good!
I am sad to say that I have never been to a book signing… and I love to read! Maybe when the kids are a bit older I can do to a few in NYC. I mean the city is an hour away from us…
Oh and that reel with the floods cat(s) made me smile. Need to show Lyra later, she’ll love it!
There must be so many great ones in NYC, but very hard to manage when you have young kids. Totally get it!
I hope Lyra loved the cat Reel! I should start sending you some of these to show her. My IG feed is FILLED with them. <3
Why must it be so hard to coordinate between doctor, pharmacy and insurance? There must be a better way? I do hope the injections will work for you now that you can finally start them.
Love that you got to go to the book tour event! How exciting! I am also very curious to hear what you think about the Oura ring (do you pay for the subscription?). I know many people who love it. I am also intrigued but think that my Garmin watch can do most of the same things.
It makes me smile to know that Friends is also your go-to happy show to watch. Samsies! 🙂
I will definitely do a follow-up post on the Oura ring. The subscription is a bit pricey (I think $70 for the year?) so that’s definitely something to consider. I was getting tired of wearing a watch and every single band I tried irritated my skin, sigh, so I’m hoping a ring will be better for me.
I always think of you as I’m watching Friends! <3
Ugh, I also had issues w/ MTX and syringes. I’d get the vials of meds and then the syringes would be back ordered. I had pills on hand so I could take them if need be. Now I am back to taking 25 mg orally. I do 5 in the morning and 5 at night per my rheum’s direction. Man these chronic illnesses are complicated. If you do end up going on a TNF inhibitor like Enbrel, it’s more straight forward as you get preloaded syringes – but there can be a delay in getting the pre-authorization done (extra step in the process since it’s so expensive) and then there is co-pay assistance to set up, but the good news is that it’s cheap for you because of that copay assistance. I’m here for any and all questions!
I am patiently waiting for Yesteryear to be available. I have mixed feelings about it since I hate our influencer culture!
It was so scary to do the first injection, but once it was over, it wasn’t so bad! I feel a lot more confident doing my second one this week. Just hoping it does its job and I can finally start weaning off my steroid, ugh.
Please text me any and all thoughts once you finally get to read Yesteryear!
Well, I am late so by now you’ve done your injections.
I feel you though. I have to do them monthly for my migraines. I won’t lie… it’s not fun but manageable.
Where do you have to give them. I can do stomach or thigh. I prefer stomach. But it took forever for me to switch form the thigh. It hurt me there. Now it’s almost painfree.