First Day in June 2023

Wow! Summer really is almost here. We are back on Cape Cod. After a late arrival, we went to bed at 10 to discover that the bed had not been made (DS was asleep)!!! We only slept there for 4 nights when home last and had left the bed made. I am going to have to make it clear that that isn't happening again! So after making the bed, my shoulder got flared up again and between it aching and Justice sleeping up against that side so I couldn't get my arm in a good position, I couldn't sleep. I ended up on the couch downstairs because it is softer and the back of it supports my arm better.

So you are saying, she really should see a doctor about that. I finally am - I see an orthopedist on Monday at his office an hour away (the downside of living on Cape Cod). But first I have a dental appointment today and a hair and vet appointments tomorrow. Saturday I have to drive 1.75 hours each way to a 40th birthday party for my nephew's wife and a similar drive on Wednesday for a wake/funeral for a close friend's brother. I feel like I stepped off one treadmill to climb onto another! I might have skipped the birthday party except this is for the young woman with breast cancer. She had her first two surgeries at a regional hospital - still a respected teaching hospital in Massachusetts but not one of the big ones. Because the cancer is more advanced than they had anticipated they are now talking about doing chemo to shrink it, followed by mastectomy, and that followed by radiation. They now have appointments booked at Mass General and Dana Farber Cancer in Boston, which at this point seems like a really good plan.

Time to possibly drink the second cup of coffee I have been skipping lately, then get ready for the dentist. Justice is lying sweetly in my lap.

Have a thriving Thursday!

Someone else using my bed without my permission would make me feel violated. You and Mike have current and ex loved ones who need to move on. Easy for me to say, not so simple to accomplish !

Pool with friends then a hair cut later today. I order Sadie's flea/tick/heartworm meds six months at a time, and just pulled them out for June. Only one month remaining (already!) so I'll reorder today. My maiden surname now appears on most accounts, so there is less and less confusion identifying myself, to locate records with businesses and offices.

Before the weekend is over, I want at least one 2023 kayak experience under my belt. The frenzy of mating season has subsided and hurricane season has just begun, so timing is great. I am so grateful that my kayak is now right in my garage, and that I have multiple options for hosing it off when done. I can put in about a mile away !

Because my home is on the Cape, it has been used as a vacation home by many. I don't mind someone using my bed but I want all my bedding washed and put back on before I get home!

Enjoy kayaking!

Lunch with my neighbor was nice! I don't think I over carbed it. Afterwards I went to pick up my Xarelto prescription and found it has gone from $10 a month to $359! I called the maker who has the $10 a month program and the program has changed so they pay up to $200 a month and you pay the difference from what your insurance charges. My insurance charges over $500 a month for it. I am going to talk to my doctor about whether stopping it sounds like a good idea. My hematologist gave me the option of winging it with nothing and seeing what happens, taking a full dose, or taking a half dose. I chose half dose at the time. I wonder if I would have made a different decision at the time if it meant $4500 a year instead of $120? It was based on fear, but how afraid do I need to be? Health isn't a reason to be cheap, but given I had a choice or three things the hematologist was comfortable with, should I try going with it? My plastic surgery was super traumatic, and day to day life is not.

No out of the house plans today. Long nice conversation on the phone with a CA friend this morning.

Food is good, but scale still the same. Grr!

I think that's it for me. Have a great day!

I'm very happy with Eliquis. Was that a choice? My insurance covers it, so my copay is $25 a month...

Same pricing problem. Bristol-Meyer Squibb is in a price war with Janssen so they keep price matching each other on the same upward trajectory. My insurance has really bad Tier 3 drug pricing! Eliquis is $601 a month and Xarelto is $598. I read that Xarelto might go generic next year, but that doesn't help now. (And my insurance is a "silver" PPO plan that is almost $1200 a month. Medicare is a looong way off)

Insane! My school district doesn't pay as well as comparable districts near us, but our insurance is really good. If I had to pay $600 for Eliquis, it would be a no go, which would mean I'd have to stop taking Tamoxifen, because I can't be on it without being on a blood thinner. What kind of choices are they forcing people to make?

I think people who can't afford either take warfarin. Which requires a lot of monitoring (weekly!) to make sure you are at the right levels, but is cheap.

I get that drug companies need to make money to develop drugs, but it's maddening when the one you need is one of the pricy ones! They will lose a lot of income when Xarelto goes generic.

Wow! The drug companies keep getting richer at the expense of the public. Both these drugs were heavily advertised and I know many people on them.

Greetings all

What a beautiful morning it was (even though I did not get up early). It was calm and the birds were singing and chirping. I guess its robins but I so love bird sounds (absent lawn mowers).

Studio day were I began catching up on gallery inventory. I may have mentioned a ton of stuff sold last weekend so I am low. Work work work.

Liz I hear you on needing to go for your niece. But beware of all that driving if you are doing it. Not good on shoulder.

Ocean Diane, what is the mating that is keeping you out of the kayak? Aligators? Intrigues me.

CC glad you had a nice lunch. Don't know what to think about the medication cost increase except that nothing seems to ever get cheaper. Hoping for some good resolution.

We have been watching Dead to Me. Great series - twisty and weird.

Just made a grocery stop. $80 for one bag of stuff. Guess I have expensive tastes. Oh well. One steak is four meals for us.

Diane S