Generic Medications

Kels had her routine psychiatrist visit this morning for the depression meds and while there she filled out a depression screening tool (hello? that's why we're there!) that the doc like to have filled out every once in a while.  As it turns out, her score compared to the last one back in October was nearly double.  After talking to him a while about this, he asked me if she took generic Lexapro.  I answered yes, because we take whatever the mail order pharmacy send.  Apparently, the generic forms are WAY watered down except for the one manufactured by Mylan.  He also said that the Klonopin (clonazepam) she takes is good as a generic only if manufactured by Mylan and the generic Lamictal (lamotrigine) only if manufactured by Teva.  This is going to warrant a conversation first with her neuro and then with the pharmacy since this might in some way contribute to our lack of control. 

All The Amazon Things and Bread!

We love, love, love all things Amazon at our house.  With the sole exception of my husband, we are a Kindle household.  We each have our own Amazon Prime account and shop it frequently.  I do think that yesterday; however, was the largest Amazon delivery day in terms of sheer number of items for us to date.  We brought home six packages from Amazon.  Among those were:

Watch for Hubby

 

 

And:

Spark -- What Gets Me Going

And:

New Toy for the Hubby


But the most exciting delivery of all for me is this right here:

Mine!

Yep, a bread machine.  I used to have one back in the day and it was as big as my kitchen counter.  Made bread like a champ, but I have very little counter space in our kitchen as it stands and it was just always in the way so we donated it to Goodwill for someone else to enjoy quite a few years ago.  This was so a spur-of-the-moment purchase (like the ice cream maker a week ago - more of that in a sec) but I've already planned out the breads for the weekend. 

Little aside about the ice cream maker - I am beyond excited about this thing and I don't even eat lots of ice cream.  I think I'm on batch number 4 or 5 in a week and the family and neighbors are loving the heck out of it.  OMG!  I (a self-professed home chef and foodie) am AMAZED that you can throw a bunch of liquidy stuff into a canister, surround it with ice and salt and BOO-YAH!  Ice Cream.  Just. That. Simple.  Who knew?

Anywho -- back to the bread machine.  I've pulled out my dusty bread recipes and plan to innundate the neighborhood with fresh bread this weekend.  I have a feeling that whenever my neighbors see a new Amazon box sitting out for trash pick-up they either think, "Holy Crap, she bought a what?" or "Holy Crap, food!"  I'll be sure and post some bread pics from the weekend, you can bet on that.

Goodbye, True Blue Potiga

What was touted to us as the most hopeful new drug for Kels back in March has now been taken from our arsenal due to an unusual side effect that so far cannot be explained.  It turns people irrevocably blue.  Like Smurf-blue.  Since they (has anyone ever quite figured out who “they” are?) cannot figure out the why of it, Kels has to come off.  No big loss since it didn’t seem to help with her overall seizure control anyway and it is very expensive.  So we’re back to the regular meds, which currently includes Keppra, Lamictal, Vimpat, Klonopin, Diastat as needed, Depo-Provera (to help with the hormonal induced seizures), and Lexapro to try to combat the effects of all the drugs, the epilepsy-induced depression, and life as a home-bound 21 year old in general. 

But wait!  Her neuro says that there is another up and coming, promising drug that should be available soon.  I can’t remember the name of it currently, but he’s got great hopes (sounds like a familiar song, doesn’t it?).  We’ll see.  She’s taking it well, even through the seizures that’ve been happening with the all-too-familiar playing with the medicine.  I wish some days that I could blink and take it all away from her, but sometimes our lot in life isn’t fair.  Sometimes our struggles aren’t even about us; they are used through us for a higher purpose.  Maybe we’ll see a breakthrough in her lifetime in time enough to help her.

Decisions

So I’m trying to make a firm decision about when I actually leave my current position to begin my student teaching.  I can either begin in January, 2014 or September, 2014.  While I’m ready to be gone and begin a new career, I’m a little scared at the same time.  I’d be leaving a well-paid, full-time job for the certainty of a three month unpaid student teaching position and then the uncertainty of a job in hand.  There are pros and cons to either jumping in in January or waiting until September. 
 
January Pros:

• Sucking it up, buttercup, and getting it done. 
• Not being here in my current job
• Greater possibility of finding a teaching contract in March/April

January Cons:

• Not have a regular paycheck

September Pros:

• Few more months salary, which in turn leads to…
• A couple more vacations with the hubs and family (we love our travels)
• A nearly 5 month break from school (both learning and teaching)

September Cons:

• Having to stay at my current job for an extra few months
• Slightly decreased possibility of a teaching contract going into the holidays

I know I don’t talk about it much in print, but there are circumstances currently that make this position much less than desirable and the thought of staying a few extra months is dismaying.  But hey!!  Vacations!!  Money!!  And whether I start in January or in September, I’m fortunate that my husband covers my insurance and other benefits so that’s not a particular worry. 

So, from my vast readership of two – thoughts?