I'm 69 years old ... 70 will happen way too soon.

I'm making up for the time lost during my 12 years of PMR and prednisone. I was thinking about assisted living and long term care for my retirement years. Now I'm planning to travel to Europe on a trans Atlantic cruise in the spring of 2024. That will happen after going to Florida for the month of January 2024. I live in Iowa so winter is brutal here especially in January.

I get my infusions of Actemra through the VA health care system. They are making arrangements for my infusion to be given in Orlando in January. I don't worry about my dose or anything. My doctor just asks me how the month went and writes for the dose that is given to me at my next infusion. The nurse doing the infusion tells me the dose if I ask.

I'm truly a risk adverse person. However, after 4 years of Actemra, I haven't had any serious infections or other health concerns. There is no comparison with my 12 years on prednisone which were characterized by infections, emergency room visits and hospitalizations.

I still want to get off Actemra for fear that my luck is going to run out eventually.