balance physical therapy referral

I just got off the phone with the nurse practitioner who is covering for Dr. Abdelrazek. She thinks the reason the PT place yesterday said they don't do that is that the doctor put "for MS" in the referral, so she is writing a new referral that just says "balance therapy," and sending it to an office across the street from Mt. Auburn Cemetery (same building as my dermatologist).

She told me to either call the office or send a MyChart message to her and/or Dr. Abdelrazek if I don't hear from either the PT office or her office by next week.

She then told me about some blood test results that I'd gotten via MyChart, on blood taken immediately before my last Ocrevus infusion. Three immunoglobulin numbers. Two were in the green "normal" range. and the immunoglobulin M is a little low. But the difference between this 45 and the 47 from six months ago probably doesn't mean anything. Monitor, but as long as I'm not getting many infections don't need to change anything. (The "normal" range on this one starts at 50.)

Also, I picked up my new steroid inhaler about an hour ago. The instructions are complicated enough, and different enough from how I use the albuterol, that I am going to reread them, and also get cattitude to read them over, before I do anything. The instructions are to use it twice a day, morning and evening; 4:00 is not "evening," and I will probably use the first dose after dinner tonight.

started the pulmicort steroid inhaler

After reading the instructions carefully a couple of times, and getting cattitude to read them carefully, I have used the first dose of the inhaler, and rinsed my mouth afterwards as instructed.

It's a good thing the instructions note that I might not notice the powder entering my mouth or lungs, because I didn't. I think I followed the instructions properly, but I should reread them again before the next dose (in the morning).

It's also a good thing Cattitude was here to help me get the thing open the first time, because removing the cap for the first time needed a stronger grip than I have.

I am supposed to use this twice a day, whether or not I've been coughing, and can use the albuterol as a rescue inhaler if I'm coughing despite the Pulmicort.

I have a 30-day supply, and Carmen wrote the prescription with one refill. I have an in-person follow-up with her on December 14th, which will be long enough for me to get an idea of whether it's working. The follow-up is in person so she can measure things about my breathing, something that wouldn't work by telemedicine.