Baseball and Drugs

Well, that didn't hurt; in fact, it felt great. We won! 

I say that as though I were playing shortstop. (which if I played that would be my preference)

Rick went to bed.  He was so exhausted, he did a lot yesterday.

I, on the other hand, couldn't even sit still. Or as my father used to tell me, "Sit still, have you got ants in your pants?"  Actually, dad I do.  I said that once as a retort, and he said the ole, "Oh, you never mind" 

Whatever that is to mean.

The game started at 8pm.  As I do, I was recording it.  

I missed the first few innings while Rick was awake.  He really wanted to watch something else, and I didn't feel like moving my fat butt into another room.  He kept saying he was tired and wanted to go to bed early. And he did, so I could pace.

He went to bed, and I watched from the beginning, and I caught up since I could FF  through the commercials. Normally, he will say, "Let's watch the game,"  But when it's Boston, he gets annoyed with me, so he'd rather not watch with me. 

One time, he told me it was like trying to sit on my hands while I talked. 

If I can't use my hands, he thinks I can't speak.  (I can, but it makes me laugh because I am so focused on not using my hands)  

When Boston and New York play one another, I can't sit still. It's that simple.

My tummy is jumping up and down as I am physically.

I drive Rick crazy in a multitude of ways, but it drives him nuts when I rock in my chair and when I have to pace around the room during a game.  

So off to bed he went, and on went the game. 

I paced like a 1950s expectant father.

If I sat, I found myself rocking or my legs kicking since they don't touch the floor.  I can't sit still when the Yankees play the Red Sux, err Sox.  

Look, if there are 162 games in a season and the NYY play the Red Sox 10 times. I am fine with losing all 152 games except those 10. Ridiculous right?  I just hate Boston, so we had to beat them, and we did, in a glorious way.

Now on to Toronto.  Well, I do think this will be a helluva lot tougher to win.

Both of these teams have identical records of wins and losses. 

Back in '93, I went to Toronto to watch the final game of the World Series. 

It was heaven.  My seats were so high up that it felt like I was in the clouds.

But I was rooting for Toronto, and they won.  I will always root for an American League Team over the National League unless it's Boston. There's a theme there, isn't there?

Okay, in other news.

If you recall, Rick has to take a blood thinner to prevent more strokes. 

It was over $800 a month if I got a 90-day supply.  Yikes. I asked the doctor for another choice of blood thinners.  He hooked me up with the WakeMed (hospital) pharmacy. He told us that WakeMed has a contract with the makers of Xarelto, and we would only have to pay $15.34 for 90 days.  

TAKE IT!

I got a call from the pharmacy last week. They stated that they lost their contract with Johnson and Johnson (Xarelto makers), and it was now $834 for a 30-day supply if I got 90 days.  Got that? Sneaky little shits. 

Did I wish to fill this? Oh dear Lord.  I said not at this time.  I knew we had a 1.5-week supply.  I had to do some homework. But she beat me to it.

The pharmacy person who called to alert me of this suggested I speak to someone from WakeMed Financial Assistance program.  Oh my.  I'm in that spot in my life.  Okay, I tell her. She gives me the number to call.

This very nice woman, whom I will call E, was so very good at customer service.  She was kind, helpful, and patient with all of my questions.

She told me there were 2 programs. One is a savings program, if we can qualify, and one is a free option if we qualify.  I told her, guess which one I'd like to try for?  She laughed and said, "Okay, let's shoot for that first."

I had a ton of homework.  I had to make copies of our income, our benefits, our coverage with Medicare and our supplemental insurance, our Rx benefits, notes from the doctor, etc I had documents all over the floor. I scanned, I downloaded, I emailed. Then I prayed. 

I sent them to WakeMed and then Johnson and Johnson.  

Yesterday, we were approved for the free program.  The only good thing about being poor, I guess.  Now Rick is back on his blood thinner and just in time.

Johnson and Johnson also called me to explain the program.  While I did receive all that info from E at WakeMed, I pretended this was all new, and I listened.  The least I could do is give my undivided attention if I am receiving this for free, right?  

J & J said this would last until the end of December 2025. I said, "Oh no."  

She said to hold on, and she laughed. We will extend this to December 2026 since you filled out the paperwork with only 2 months to go.  Whew.  I told her that was great news. She laughed and said, I know doing all that again so soon would be a royal pain. We won't make you do it again until the end of 2026.  She told us she would contact us, along with WakeMed, to begin the process for next year.  

So we got very lucky again.  I am so damn thankful.

Rick takes a lot of medications. Most are at a tolerable price, but it adds up.

$2,400 for one Rx for 3 months is just crazy. (with insurance, mind you)

One more update you didn't ask for.

Rick has drop foot since the stroke. Along with the inability to lift that left foot forward so he can walk correctly, he has a great deal of pain in his feet.

He read about this thing that could help him. He sent it to me to read. I did. I didn't think it would work, but I've got to give him hope.

It was a money-back guarantee, so what the hell.

Rick received this flat mat that had a knob on the top.  He plugged it in to start with a full charge.  He read all the directions, as did I.

The first night, he put his feet on this pad and did as he was told in the directions. It's a lot like a TENS unit.  It seems to send shocks to his nerve endings to apparently wake them up in his foot/leg.  After his foot he decided to do it on his left hand, which is also always in a lot of pain.

He is to do this 2x a day.  The first morning after he did this 2x he awoke to no pain when walking. He was delighted but wondered if it would last all day.  It's been one week now.  He has no pain in his feet. Can he walk correctly?  Nope.  But maybe in time. As for his hand, it hurts less.  Less is better than nothing he proclaimed.

We were told it will take months. So if this is after only 1 week, we both have hope.  I told Rick he may never walk like he did before, but to be without pain is so wonderful. He agrees.  Every step he takes has been painful, and he just lives with it and also doesn't wish to walk if he doesn't have to.  I get it, but it also makes our world so small. (I know it's not about me!)

Hopefully, he will continue to be without pain, and even better if he can walk a bit better as well. 

Here's to a great and sunny weekend, everybody.