The first shipment of Tecfidera is finally on the way! I’ve got a tracking code and everything. There wasn’t as much of a hassle getting the medication shipped this time. The last one took several weeks of calling different folks at three different places, this time we only really had to deal with the CVS Specialty pharmacy. Many thanks to Shannon, who is willing to help make some of these calls. Still there was a bit of, what seems to be unavoidable, back and forth and that made things take a little longer. I had scheduled the delivery for last Thursday but something with insurance happened and it needed to be rescheduled for this week.
I’m glad there wasn’t too much extra hassle in getting the medication shipped because I don’t think I would have handled delays in the timeliest of manners. It would have been really easy to put off making calls if it had been like the last time. I am still nervous about this treatment and not having to deal with extra bureaucratic bullshit makes this time of waiting easier on me. It is a time of transition and change and I’m doing my best to not make it harder for myself than it needs to be. I’m going to have to take two pills everyday, I’m not the best at taking my vitamins every day so that is something I will have to pay more attention to. I’ve never tried setting an alarm on my phone to help remind me but that is the first solution I’m going to try. I’m also going to write it on my daily to-do lists to have a backup method in place.
The doctor, pharmacy, and the Tecfidera info sheet have all mentioned that taking this medication with fatty foods helps reduce gastrointestinal discomfort and stomach problems so you can bet that there is going to be a stock pile of peanut butter around. I don’t necessarily feel ready to take this medication but I do feel ready to take better care of myself and I’m already doing that in a lot of little ways. I have been on top of following up on all the things from my appointment. I got my blood work and MRI scheduled within a couple of days. It took me a bit longer to make the call to CVS but I still got it done within a week after the appointment. I might be feeling nervous and a bit scared of the side effects but I am going to start this treatment anyway because that’s what I have to do to take care of myself.