Dealing with all this MS stuff is weird. Super weird. Super, duper weird.
I'm fortunate enough to be working, although I don't know for how long as this fatigue thing is becoming a real issue. Plus my brain ain't running on all cylinders anymore. I want to keep working. My coworkers appear to want me to keep working. My insurance company wants me to keep working but, ironically, won't pay for my DMT because I'm too old for Ocrevus. The government will pay for it but not for another 4 months.
Evidently the government is willing to take a flier on Ocrevus so that I remain a taxpayer for the foreseeable future. I hope they don't do the math though, cuz yeah, my taxes are not gonna cover that.
Interestingly, according to the tall foreheads at my insurance company, Ocrevus would need to be discounted more than 80% to make it worthwhile for me. Plus, I'm over 55, and it hasn't been tested on a PPMS patient as ancient as I (5😎. Nothing like the cold truth of an actuarial table to quantify your worth.
So, here I sit with a big ole Excel spreadsheet running 'what if' scenarios. Add up our RRSP's, sell our house, liquidate our other stuff and arrive at 'x'. Derive an income stream from 'x' based on 'y' percent return. Add in the government disability stipend, subtract income tax, subtract inflation, and the result is 'Holy-Crap-I'm-Eating-Cat-Food-For-The-Rest-Of-My-Life'.
Oh but wait, there's good news! I can subtract 7 years from my life expectancy because I have PPMS! Awesome! Ooops, wait a minute, my spouse doesn't have PPMS, so she's still going to live to be 84. Subtract a couple years for some chronic illness issues, and she'll make it to 82. I wonder if it's too late for her to take up smoking?
All I know is my cat is gonna be pissed. The only variation in his diet comes from the stuff he mooches from us. So, if we're eating the same thing he is ...