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I heard from my neurologist about that "semi-quantitative covid test":
He says the <1 result means that I have "no detectable antibody response to all vaccinations thus far," because of the MS medication.
I tried googling to see what a negative covid antibody test might mean, but the CDC and FDA just want to tell me what a positive covid antibody test would mean, not a negative one. So I wrote back, and asked whether I need to behave as though I'm not vaccinated. I'm hoping my T cells are primed and ready to deal with this virus, but that's a hope, not a fact.
The doctor did say that if I want to get a fourth vaccine dose, he'd recommend getting it 3-4 weeks before my next Ocrevus infusion, which would put it in the second half of March. So I'm also going to ask Carmen what she thinks about a possible fourth dose the next time I talk to her, in January.
The doctor also apologized for the delay, which is reassuring, and offered to give me a letter of "medical necessity" so I won't be billed for tests. (Another look at the message from the health insurance suggests that what I'm actually being billed for is the JC virus test, which I don't think was medically necessary, but the positive test result from ten years ago isn't in their system, so they might buy that.)
ETA: I have some more information (from someone who is not my doctor). They confirmed that I probably have some useful protection from T cells, and also that given the timing of my booster dose of the vaccine last month, I should talk to my doctor about a fourth dose, carefully spaced at least 12 weeks after the most recent Ocrevus infusion, and at least four weeks before the following Ocrevus dose. That would mean sometime after January 13 and, conveniently, my next appointment with my doctor is for January 11th.
He says the <1 result means that I have "no detectable antibody response to all vaccinations thus far," because of the MS medication.
I tried googling to see what a negative covid antibody test might mean, but the CDC and FDA just want to tell me what a positive covid antibody test would mean, not a negative one. So I wrote back, and asked whether I need to behave as though I'm not vaccinated. I'm hoping my T cells are primed and ready to deal with this virus, but that's a hope, not a fact.
The doctor did say that if I want to get a fourth vaccine dose, he'd recommend getting it 3-4 weeks before my next Ocrevus infusion, which would put it in the second half of March. So I'm also going to ask Carmen what she thinks about a possible fourth dose the next time I talk to her, in January.
The doctor also apologized for the delay, which is reassuring, and offered to give me a letter of "medical necessity" so I won't be billed for tests. (Another look at the message from the health insurance suggests that what I'm actually being billed for is the JC virus test, which I don't think was medically necessary, but the positive test result from ten years ago isn't in their system, so they might buy that.)
ETA: I have some more information (from someone who is not my doctor). They confirmed that I probably have some useful protection from T cells, and also that given the timing of my booster dose of the vaccine last month, I should talk to my doctor about a fourth dose, carefully spaced at least 12 weeks after the most recent Ocrevus infusion, and at least four weeks before the following Ocrevus dose. That would mean sometime after January 13 and, conveniently, my next appointment with my doctor is for January 11th.