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| The infusion area of my doctor's office |
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| Nurse Helen prepares the infusion |
My first infusion was on March 12th. I didn't feel like myself again until last Friday, March 23rd. The worst of the side effects for me so far have been the nausea and dizzyness. Really, it's not all that bad.
So today, I was off to see my primary care physician in the morning. He takes care of my other issues like hypertension. My blood pressure was ok this morning - 132/84. Dr. Zhang usually reminds me that if I would just lose some weight I might not need so much blood pressure medication. Every time he says that, I nod and tell him, "Yes, I know." During this visit, he didn't say anything about my weight - I guess that he didn't want to waste his breath. I did tell him that I had started the new lupus medication, Benlysta. He's never heard of it. In his defense, he is not a rheumatologist.
Next it was over to Dr. Neuwelt's office for my 2nd infusion. Because I was so nauseated after the first infusion, I decided to have nothing but steamed white rice for lunch before I went. When I got to the doctor's office, I was weighed again -1 pound down from last time. Knowing that I am going be weighed every time is a bit of an incentive to watch what I eat. I was in the infusion area all by myself today. Other patients had their infusions earlier in the day and the only other person scheduled at 1 pm had cancelled. I had Nurse Helen's undivided attention.
Once again, I was give Tylenol and Benadryl as a pre-op to ward off possible allergic reactions to the drug. The benadryl seemed to make me even drowsier than last time - I actually fell asleep for about 30 minutes. When I woke up, I was nauseated again. Helen gave me Zofran - an anti-nausea medication given to people going through chemo. It took care of my nausea, but compounded my drowsiness. Helen wanted to watch me for a bit even after the medicine finished dripping. I convinced her that I was ok and she let me leave. My daughter picked me up and drove me home. I crawled up the stairs and slept for 2 1/2 hours. I was pretty groggy when I woke up.
I ate cream of wheat for dinner thinking that if I keep something bland in my stomach I can stay ahead of the nausea. Not quite. So I took some over the counter nausea medicine called Bonine. That in combination with my other meds are making me very sleepy. So, I will finish for tonight and let you know if anything changes. The 2nd infusion was NOT any worse than the first. My lupus symptoms are still present and active.
One day at a time.
