And Just Like That, It Was Over

Thursday was so busy for me I didn't have much time to think about my appointment at 4. That was a good thing.

We arrived about 5 minutes early and this was seriously the wrong appointment to make me wait until 30 minutes after my scheduled time. The most fabulous nurse did our injection instruction. It was such a privilege to be under the care of Jim--he is compassionate, understanding and has the most amazing bedside manner. He spent the first few minutes discussing all sorts of things with us and even had a training needle / plunger to use. He insisted we try it that way first.

Then it was time for the real deal. I had fully intended for Steve to give me the injections but Jim stared me right in the eye, pointed his finger and said, "no, YOU will do this one. What you do after this one in the office is up to you but today it's YOU!" See, when I asked the NP about it the week before, she said they recommend I do my own but it was totally up to me. Apparently not under Jim's watch! In retrospect, he was extremely wise for forcing me into it.

Jim walked through each preparatory step with us and I sat there with the plunger on my leg for what seemed like an eternity staring at the trigger. He said "whenever you're ready, go ahead." Truth is, I was never really going to be ready and it made him smile when I told him so. I finally clicked it and sat there watching the lever in the window portion while the medicine was pushed into my leg. I'm not kidding when I say it hurt; kind of like a tearing and burning at the same time. But I don't think it was the physical pain of the shot that hurt so badly because I've been in far more pain day in and day out. It actually paled in comparison, particularly considering it was 30 seconds rather than 24 hours a day.

I found myself in more of an emotional trauma watching the level of medicine as it lowered into my body. It was the strangest thing, almost as if I were watching it from a distance on the leg of someone else (except of course the pain was all to real for that to be the case). The tears streamed down my face and I had no ability to control them. Steve was to my right and he put his hand on my shoulder, whispering that it was okay and I was doing fine. Jim was in front of me and he patted my knee assuring me it was going well. Once the needle was out Jim handed me some cotton and told me to press on it for 15-20 seconds. After about five he tapped my hand and so calmly said "relax Julie, don't push so hard." I looked down only to realize my fingers were white from pushing so hard.

And then it was over. Until next Friday that is.

Jim sent us to the waiting room for 10 minutes to ensure there were no immediate side effects requiring medical attention and then he helped me with my coat, patted me on the shoulder and said "you did good kiddo." The side effects I experienced in the following 24 hours were completely normal and very minimal. I had some tingling in my left foot and hand and then I was fairly fatigued and slightly nauseous but both of those should lessen as my body adjusts to receiving the medication.

It will take anywhere from 2 to 12 weeks to see how well it will work.