Saturday, July 2, 2011

Sub-Q Treatment #1

Yesterday was my first sub-Q infusion (aka SCIG) and I wanted to let you all know how it went.

A nurse came to the house at lunch time and we went over all of the steps to the infusion and then we got started! I was incredibly nervous (especially after the reaction I had last time) so I had a few emotional moments but everyone was texting and calling me with support which was so helpful!! Anyway, we loaded up the syringe with Ig and attached all the tubing and then it was time to insert the needles.  We had to insert 4 needles into my abdomen and the nurse did the first one but I insisted on doing the rest. We taped the needles in place, put the syringe into a pump, turned it on and that was that! The infusion took about an hour and a half and felt a little funny but nothing I didn't expect. My friend Taylor (Victor) came over and sat and watched movies with me while I infused.  When the infusion ended we took the needles out and I had little bumps on my stomach where the Ig hadn't been absorbed yet (that's the nice thing about Sub-Q, it only absorbs as fast as your body allows).

Once the nurse left I started to feel a little sleepy and flu- like. My temperature started to rise so I loaded up on calcium and magnesium and drank a ton of fluids. Taylor and I napped on the couch and I ended up sleeping for the rest of the day. Today I woke up, still feeling flu like and feverish but nothing as horrible as last time! I am thrilled! My stomach has a tiny bruise (only one) but there was no site reactions. Hopefully after another day of rest my fever will go away and I'll feel okay again. I'll continue to do infusions every Friday and it should get easier everytime. I won't have "normal" levels of antibodies for another 6 months but this is still a step in the right direction (and six months doesn't sound so long)!

Also, next infusion I'll take a video for you guys but yesterday I was too stressed out to do it!

Here are some pictures:
(Here I am learning to fill my syringe)

(Here are the 4 infusion sites in my abdomen and my pump!)

(Taylor and I enjoying almond flour pancakes while infusing!)

(It's hard to see but after the infusion I had bumps on my stomach)

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