Week 3 has officially started, which means the introduction of needles... Yikes! Friday, I went down to the pharmacy to pick up my first inject-able drug. I don't believe I've mentioned this before, but the only pharmacy in the greater DSM area that supplies fertility drugs is Bauder's Pharmacy. The pharmacy is located on Ingersoll and is east of 42nd street. This is a really neat old style pharmacy complete with the soda / ice cream bar with stools so you can sit right at the counter. The pharmacist is a very nice and knowledgeable man. He's is probably in his mid 50's to early 60's and you can tell by the way he works that this is definitely not his first rodeo dealing with these fertility drugs! Friday's trip to the pharmacy was to pick up Lupron. The pharmacist did a little show and tell with me to ensure that I knew what I was supposed to be doing when I got home. I had a pretty good idea of what to do from listening to the Mid-Iowa Fertility nurse and I also knew that I would have a pretty good expert to help me out on Saturday for the first shot. The expert would be nurse Cindy aka the best mom ever!! As I went to pay for the drug, the pharmacist said that the whole bag (syringes, lupron, and alcohol swabs) needed to go into the fridge. I gave him a look and said "Really? The whoooole bag?" He responded with: "Well, no" and smiled at me like okay smart ass get out of here so I can help the next customer.
I couldn't leave Bauder's without purchasing a vanilla malt (again this is an old style pharmacy). I got sucked in.... I knew the malt would be delicious... and let me tell you, that was the best malt I've had in years! I "drank" that malt like it was the last thing I was ever going to eat! I hope I don't have to go back to the pharmacy too many more times... this will be a bad, bad, bad habit to get into!
I worked Saturday which was probably a hidden blessing because that kept me from stewing and fretting about the shot that awaited me on Saturday evening. I had asked the expert if she would be willing to come down and stay overnight to assist me with that first shot. I am sure that she got a little bit of a kick out of watching how nervous I was for this first experience! However, I am definitely grateful that mom and dad were able to come on down and stay at our home. There is nothing better than the care of your mother! After another lesson on how to fill the syringe, the time had finally come. I hesitated quite a bit. That first step to stab yourself with that needle is tough, especially because I've never done that! I'm not sure what made me go through with the motion, but before I knew it... the needle was gone and in the skin. With shaky hands I pushed the plunger in until all the medication was gone and in a swift motion pulled out the needle. I cannot believe I just did that....
Mom helped me fill the syringe one more time tonight before she and dad took off to go home. Again, I don't know what got into me to give that shot tonight, but I found a way. I can't say that the shot tonight was any easier than the previous night, but I have hope that the next couple weeks will be easier. I only have 23 more nights for that drug... BRING 'EM ON! Injection site was a little red and irritated after the shots, but nothing too out of control.
On a side note my thumb is still healing well and the nail is getting closer to being fully grown out! Major accomplishment for this week was being able to remove my right eye contact using my right hand. Since the day the accident happened, I've had to use my left hand to remove both contacts! I feel more efficient now as I can take both of my contacts out at once rather than one at a time! Small wins....
Week 3 is officially in full swing!
ALJ
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