Enbrel Here We Come!

So...to catch everyone up to speed.  On our last appointment the Dr.'s at Scottish Rite had decided to put Brylea on another arthritis medication (Enbrel).  It will be a twice/week injection (that we do at home) in conjunction with her Naproxen, folic acid, and her weekly Methotrexate.  I tried to get the Methotrexate out of the equation but supposedly the Dr.'s know more than I do.  :0)

With my prescription in hand I delivered to CVS back in the beginning of June.  Since then, I have had to make several calls to CVS, our prescription insurance, and Scottish Rite.  In the meantime, I have heard horror stories of how much this medication costs ($1400/mnth +).  Nathan and I were anxious at first but knew that God would provide somehow/someway.  Our insurance was declining the Enbrel request since they prefer Humira (another arthritis medication) and I had to go through our "specialty pharmacy" to get the prescription filled.  My insurance had to triple check to make sure that Scottish Rite absolutely wanted Enbrel specifically (hassle!).  However, today I spoke with our insurance today and they were going to call HR to get the override to get the Enbrel approved.  The customer service rep said I would get a call back by this afternoon letting me know what was going to happen. An hour later I get a call back letting me know that the Enbrel was approved and they would be shipping it directly to me.  However, it GETS BETTER!  I only have to pay a monthly co-pay of $50 (!) to get delivered.  God came through and now we will be back on track with a regimen that will hopefully help Brylea.

This summer had been going really well for Brylea.  Fortunately for her there has been no rain or cold fronts so she has been feeling good.  However, on Thursday she had her first nosebleed.  The Dr.'s ask every check-up if she has had one so now I am watching for further incidents and hoping this is the only isolated one.  I do not know how nosebleeds are connected but I am thinking its a bad sign from her medications.  It may have just been a fluke from the hot air that we are experiencing.  But since then she has been swollen and really limping for the past few days.  As much as I hate the thought of my daughter receiving 3 injections/week I am hoping that we can see drastic improvement.  With my couponing I have stocked up on cute Band-Aids hoping to help the cause.  Thank you everyone for your inquiries and prayers!  I am still on my Happy Cloud from the good news received today!