Hello again. It has been a while, the world went to hell in a hand-basket since I have last been on here. So much has happened from COVID-19 to protests, it has been a long year and it’s only the end of August!

At the beginning of the year I had some rough times with my disease and medicines, as many people are now aware, Hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil) is being used in studies to try to fight COVID-19. HOWEVER, because of these studies, people like me are fighting to get there prescriptions filled and even prescribed.

When the drug was first being used in COVID studies, I asked my rhumatologist what that would mean for people like me who needed the drug to be able to live their lives. Plaquenil is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and other collagen vascular diseases (what I have). Unfortunately due to the high demand for testing, my doctor told me she was unable to prescribe the med to new patients at the time — this was in April. Luckily for me, at the time I was already prescribed the medication so I was able to continue taking it. The problems for me came when I tried to refill my meds at the pharmacy….

There were multiple times that Hydroxychlorquine would not be filled by the pharmacy and when I would call and ask why, it would take another three to five days for them to figure out how to fill it. I ended up going off of my medications, including anxiety and adderall due to insruance and pharmacy complications during quarentine — let’s just say I was at my wits end.

Then, when I think I finally have it figured out, I get a call from my doctor that they do not accept my insurance and that I will need to find not only a new primary care but also a rhumatologist. I did not even get the chance to ask my doctor about who to go to, or what to do. I am now just without any doctors and have officially run out of my medicines for my disease. So that has been fun. I am trying to look for a primary care and then hoping that I can find a rheumatologist or some one who will atleast get me my meds until I can get back in.

Being chronically ill is soooo fun….

On to more exciting things, this is my final year of school! Next semester I will be student teaching the entire time so I will no longer be attending classes at the University! I am so excited! My mentor teacher is great and I have met most of my students through our virtual classroom. Its definitely strange going to school and teaching from my kitchen table but we are making it work.

I got placed in a World History class, which happens to be my favorite subject of the social studies! I am so excited to work with these students and hopefully make learning fun even if we are all separated by screens and distance.

Since I’ve last updated, I have changed my hair quite a few times. It has gone brown, bright purple, almost went blue and is now back to a burgundy/brown purple again. As they say, don’t be sad go dye your hair (they being me).

• 

• 

I have three reading heavy courses this semester, however I am excited for them. One of them is on Latinx history in the West and the other is on Mythology! How exciting!

Also recently, I have started to take collagen in the mornings. I either mix it with tea or in a smoothie so that it is easy to digest. I am hoping it will help me with a variety of things, considering my disease is called Collagen Vascular Disease. So I will (try) keep ya’ll updated!

•