So. Again I overwhelmed myself and what started as an entry on CCSVI is now almost 7 pages of word document.

There is so much that goes into it and that I want to explain thoroughly in both medical and laymans terms with the right pictures that I’ve seen on different pages that I keep putting off good entries by starting ones that are like “legitimate” like that and not actually writing entries that I need and want to write. And that’s bullshit. So until I’m done writing that stuff and organizing it, I’m going to still write about my life because, well, I’m starting to have one again, aside from just taking meds and whatnot.

New Therapist, New Therapy Style
Welcome to my care team, my new therapist, Ann. She’s been a PhD for many more years than Amy (my previous therapist of 5 years, who just got hers this past year – and who I’m still very proud of for her achievement!), and her practice focuses a lot more on Jungian techniques, journaling, dream journaling, dealing with childhood traumas (of which I now know I have some to deal with – which was not the case when I was shopping for a therapist w/ Amy). Ann’s technique also pulls from other areas of psychology that I like – cognitive behavioral, talk therapy, and others. She’s got loads of experience working with victims of abuse and with people coming to terms with disability, and while she is older, I don’t feel like I’m talking to a grandmother or someone I have to watch my mouth around. She skews to a tad bit older than my mom/dad range, which is really nice and comforting in that “she-probably-knows-how-to-help-me-from-direct-experience” sort of way. And she takes my insurance, which is very excellent for us financially speaking. So far, she seems fantastic.

My homework from her this week is to keep a dream journal. Usually, I’m Johnny-on-the-spot for things like that, but with all the nightmares I’ve been having and how many times Adam had to wake me last night, I just couldn’t start it yesterday. I figure, since this isn’t school, and since it’s for my own well-being, I can use the “It was my last day on steroids.” excuse and start tonight.

Another bright side is that working with her means that I will have someone reminding me that it’s a good idea to journal if I’m not reminding myself to do it anyway. 🙂

A Little Bit Of Unsolicited Financial Advice
So, I thought about it and having this knowledge is not insider trading because I am part of the public and therefore this is public knowledge. Everybody knows by now that last week Gilenia was approved by the FDA as the first oral disease modifying drug. I’d say, whether you’re planning on switching your medication or not, it’s a safe bet that a *lot* of people will. If I had any money at all to invest, I would throw it into Novartis.

Why? 2 reasons.

Reason 1 – Because pills don’t cost NEARLY as much as injections. How much do you think the insurance companies want to keep paying out? They already hate having to pay the thousands of dollars that our therapies cost them every year — and who can blame them? The cost for our care is INSANE. We absolutely deserve the care, but for an insurance company to pass up an opportunity to reduce costs by what I can only imagine would amount to millions — that would surprise me. Especially when this pill’s been proven to be more effective than Avonex, Betaseron, and Rebif. It makes me wonder if those will even be on formularies soon.

Reason 2 – Because pills don’t hurt like injections do – and many of us are just plain tired of hurting and bruising on a daily/every-other-day/weekly basis. Many MSers just want to stop the shots, and who can blame them? I personally inject myself every single night before I go to sleep. I have to do it then, because otherwise the injection site will rub against my clothes and drive me nuts all day and hurt and get bigger and redder. Yeah. Sexy. Hot. MMmm.

Anyhow – since it *just* got approved, it’s still not on anybody’s formulary, which means that nobody’s got it yet. That means we don’t have the real change in value of Novartis’s stock.

I figure, if they’re going to make money off us, we may as well make money off ourselves too, right? Why not invest in ourselves? Maybe we’ll make enough money to afford to treat our CCSVI. *chortle* Yes, I said “chortle.” It’s what I did out loud just then. It’s when you laugh to yourself in that sort of angsty way that says, “fuckin life… you think you’re funny.” 🙂

The thing is: Life is funny. And I mean truly funny. Why so funny? Because…

I have an audition for a game show on Tuesday.
That’s right. I’ve got a screen test in Culver City to perform on the hit TV game show “Don’t Forget The Lyrics!” and I have MS (which makes you forgetful) and a seizure disorder (that makes me photosensitive at times). High stress situations also increase the likelihood of my having a seizure. BUT I MIGHT MEET WAYNE BRADY!!!! AND I MIGHT MAKE MONEY!!!! So I’m totally stoked. I just don’t know what to wear yet, and I have to bring some pictures with me.

It’s like I’ve been in training for this game show my whole life. Seriously.

Anyway, here’s a link to one guy playing the game if you haven’t seen it: Don’t Forget The Lyrics!

Thank you, Mom and Dad for encouraging me to sing along to the radio all these years! 🙂 Maybe it’ll pay off!