This week on Calling in Sick I’m pulling back the curtain on the last two months of medical testing — why I said yes to a clinical study, what the actual tests were like, and how I’m handling the weird emotional whiplash of “we did all that… and we still don’t have a perfect answer.”

I’m tired, I’m flaring, I had my first day of IVIG… and somehow we’re still laughing (because if we don’t laugh, we scream in a medical trailer getting injected with nuclear medicine 🙃).

We’re diving into:

✨ Why I joined a clinical study (and what it’s actually used for)

✨ The 5-test diagnostic gauntlet: prednisone taper, bloodwork, scopes, pill cam, MRAs/MRIs + a PET scan

✨ Insurance + scheduling lore from HELL

✨ Colonoscopy prep amnesia (it’s like childbirth… you forget on purpose)

✨ My polarizing take: Google Maps > Apple Maps (fight me)

✨ The pill cam panic + urgent care x2 in one week

✨ The mindset shift I didn’t see coming: career momentum, motherhood timeline, and accepting what I’m not ready for yet

xx,

Alex

💬 COMMENT: What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever had to do for medical testing?

TIMESTAMPS:

Intro:

00:00:00 Welcome back to Calling in Sick!

00:06:18 Alex’s Picks of the Week: Gap Body pajamas + bear slippers (kids section hack)

Meat & Potatoes: The Diagnostic Gauntlet

00:09:08 Setting the stage: why I did the study

00:09:34 Clinical study 101 (and why it matters for future patients)

00:11:44 The deeper reason: the childhood diagnosis question mark

00:14:21 Prednisone taper (DO NOT DO THIS AT HOME)

00:19:27 Colonoscopy/endoscopy scheduling chaos + prep misery

00:22:26 Bloodwork off meds (and why I wanted the comparison)

00:25:14 Pill cam explained

00:30:47 MRAs/MRIs explained

00:34:56 Rituxan win: the mid-infusion Benadryl trick

00:36:02 IVIG recall

00:36:43 PET scans explained

00:39:19 Biggest takeaways: prep worse than tests + results didn’t show much

00:42:38 What’s next: oral prednisone vs IV, CAR-T trial, methotrexate or…

Conclusion:

00:46:00 Why I feel “weirdly okay” right now (and what chronic illness teaches you)

00:49:24 Soft30 with Elastique

00:50:06 One Brain Cell Show: Age of Disclosure

00:52:34 Thank you for listening! 

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Alex’s Picks of the Week:

We’re talking “surviving medical chaos” essentials this week… aka comfort items and small joys.

✨Gap Body pajamas (port-friendly button down) — https://go.shopmy.us/p-35563702

✨Gap bear slippers — https://go.shopmy.us/p-35563870

✨Our MERCH is available still…. Get it while it lasts!!!! — https://calling-in-sick.myshopify.com/

—— Use code “ZOFRAN” for a special discount!!

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🥄 RSVP: Cooking with Cooper LIVE on YouTube on 12/19

—https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cooking-with-coop-tickets-1976990439624?aff=oddtdtcreator

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