Like many of you, I have a hard time keeping up with what’s going on in lupus research.

In order to make that a little easier, I’ve added a sidebar widget that provides updates from the Lupus Research Institute. If you move your mouse over a particular news item, you will be able to see a short snippet of the article. If it seems like something you’re interested in reading, you can click the link and read the actual article.

I spent a little time on the Lupus Research Institute website yesterday, reading some comments made by Dr. Bevra Hahn regarding the new lupus drug Benlysta:

These new results show that administration of Benlysta for one year, in addition to standard treatments for SLE, resulted in substantial improvement in almost 60% of people, compared to only 46% in the group that received placebo plus standard care; the improvement included better quality of life.

I had the good fortune to meet Dr. Hahn a few years ago at a health conference where she was featured as a guest speaker. I was really impressed with her. I have nothing but great things to say about the medical staff at UCLA. It is a very long drive from Fresno to Los Angeles, but it is worth it to get such great medical care. Jenny’s rheumatologist is fabulous.

I hope the sidebar widget makes it easier to stay up with the latest lupus news. I don’t want to overwhelm the site with too much information, but it’s good to stay informed.

It’s been, and continues to be, a very busy month. Taxes are always a lot of fun around here, and I have to make sure that we’ve spent all of the funds from our flex account. I hope many of you have the opportunity to participate in a flex spending program. For those who don’t have experience with them, I have yanked this from the internet, the deep yet often questionable font of immediately gratifying wisdom:

A flexible spending arrangement (FSA), or Flexible Spending Account, as they are commonly called, is one of a number of tax-advantaged financial accounts that can be set up through a cafeteria plan of an employer in the United States. An FSA allows an employee to set aside a portion of his or her earnings to pay for qualified expenses as established in the cafeteria plan, most commonly for medical expenses but often for dependent care or other expenses. Money deducted from an employee’s pay into an FSA is not subject to payroll taxes, resulting in a substantial payroll tax savings. – Wikipedia

We’ve had a flex account for about six years now. It makes sense for us since we never spend enough on medical bills to make the write off on our taxes, but we come pretty close. The flex account allows me to lower my take home taxable pay and put that money to good use paying for medication.

Flexible spending accounts are a use-it-or-lose-it endeavor in record keeping. If you don’t submit receipts by the yearly deadline, then that money is lost. I know of some people who just accumulate records throughout the year and submit them at the end, but I submit receipts every month. I think it’s a good habit to stay on top of it in case there is a dispute or something.

We get all of our medication through Walgreens, which has great online support. At the end of each month, I just print out a record of Jenny’s medications and send it off to the flex account folks and they reimburse me by direct deposit. For office visits or the occasional hospital stay, I just submit the paperwork that I receive from my insurance company.

If you are not already involved in a flexible spending program, I would certainly recommend you check into one. It’s made a huge difference for us. Living with lupus is a long term battle and every bit of help counts.