Surprises and Autojects

FedEx came this morning and dropped off two packages. At first I thought they were the backpacks I ordered for the kids, but then I realized one was light, and one was kind of heavy. Both of the backpacks are the same size. I also remembered that the backpacks were shipped via UPS.

Then I remembered about my “goodies”! I felt like Steve Martin in "The Jerk" when the new phone books came! I had called Shared Solutions* a looooong time ago for an autoject. They told me I'd have it in 3 to 5 business days. When I called Shared Solutions to check on the autoject 2 weeks later, they told me that they needed a prescription to send me one. Mind you, there's no medicine in the autoject, it's just a plastic case that holds your syringe and delivers the medicine.

They also told me they faxed a request my doctor's office three times, and left a voicemail trying to get said prescription. Great. So I called the doctor's office and left a message. The doctor's office called me back the next day, and while they weren't “quite sure what happened”, they did go ahead and fax a prescription over to Shared Solutions. Thanks SO much, I said, with the sarcasm dripping from my tongue.

Each time I call Shared Solutions (three times so far), they are always offering to send me stuff. Lip balm, sun screen, gel packs, alcohol prep pads, and a gripper for the syringe. And those are just the things I remember being offered. I'm not sure what lip balm and sun screen have to do with Copaxone, but Shared Solutions offers them just the same.

One nice thing is that Shared Solutions offers to come to your house to train you on giving injections. I haven't scheduled training yet, but I think it might be a good idea to have someone else in the house know how to administer a shot. My wonderful friends help me out when I need to do arm shots (because it's really awkward trying to give yourself a shot in the arm), and I know they don't mind, but I would feel better being self-sufficient, or at least having back up in my house.

Random subject change: I've been feeling totally crummy with the latest heat wave. I've been going from the chair to the couch. I'm also a little cranky/grumpy/not-quite-feeling-sorry-for-myself. I'm fairly disappointed because I was feeling so great recently. I mean, I knew I'd probably regress a little because of the heat, but I didn't expect to slide all the way down. Just goes to show you how unpredictable this ridiculous disease can be. Almost 11 years after my diagnosis and it still has the ability to take me by surprise. I don't even want to think about how I'd feel without the medicine.

*https://www.copaxone.com/hcp/shared-solutions