Today is the day of the week I submit a urine specimen for a pregnancy test. It’s required by the manufacturer of Thalomid(thalidomide). Because thalidomide caused some terrible birth defects when it was first used in the 50s, Celgene wants to make sure female users of childbearing age aren’t pregnant while taking the drug. The way they do that is to require a pregnancy test. Before starting thalidomide and for the next 4 weeks, I drop off a urine specimen at the clinic. After this week, I’ll only have to do it once a month. They also require that I complete a monthly phone survey. It’s all part of their S.T.E.P.S. Program.
My itchy red swelling has diminished, thank goodness. Still some redness and swelling, but much better! It’s definitely edema. I always associated edema with feet and ankles, but I seem to have it in my head and hands :) I think I need to cut way down on sodium. My fingers and face are kind of puffy.
I got pretty far in life without having to take drugs for anything. I hope to be drug free again one day.
I’m off to work now. Jeff installed a new mail server last night. He stayed all night! What a guy. We’re an ISP, and we have free junk mail and virus filtering on all incoming mail. We have numbers around the country, and can match Juno’s/Netzero’s $9.95/mo. price in most locations. ConnectNC, Inc.