Dealing with Crohn's

Last Wednesday I had my last Remicade treatment. In retrospect they now almost seem mundane, but I know that each treatment holds the potential for complications, a negative reaction. So far I've been lucky, and last Wednesday was no exception.

While the infusion is not terribly uncomfortable, I'd have to say that the evening after the treatment (which are usually done early in the morning and finish up around noon) usually suck. I guess as your body absorbs the Remicade it takes it's toll on your immune system. For me, I just sort of feel off. Maybe like you get when you're recovering from the flu. I usually get fatigued, my voice grows a bit hoarse, and I just feel a little shaky. And for some strange reason my thighs usually ache. I'm not sure if it's the 4 plus hours lying in a hospital bed or some other strange interaction, but my legs feel crampy, maybe something like they might feel after a vigorous exercise. The day after I still don't feel normal, that usually takes about 36 hours.

So on Saturday I get a weird envelope in the mail. I'm not really expecting anything, so I'm kind of baffled what it might contain. After ripping it open I immediately see a couple of syringes, then I see some pharmacy bottles with the familiar VA markings. The bottles contain vials of medicine, Diphenhydramine and Methylprednisolone Sodium Succinate. As I'm sorting through the envelope, I check to see what doctor sent me this medicine. Sure enough, my initial suspicion is confirmed, they're from my Gastroenterologist. I read through the instructions for the medicines and I see that they are both used to treat allergic reactions. I know from my treatments that they prepare you for a Remicade infusion with Benadryl. So these must related to my last infusion.

I put them aside and stay busy around the house, but my mind keeps wandering back to the newly arrived drugs. I think to myself, well these are probably meant to help prevent a post-infusion reaction, but I'd never received them before, and no one told me to expect them. It's not the first time a medicine arrives un-announced, but I would have thought some one would have given me a heads up.

I finally decide that, well my Gastro sent them to me, so I guess I should administer them. The thing is, I've never injected myself with anything before. Of course I've seen injections given and I've seen people prepare them. I know I need to eliminate any air from the syringe, but to actually stick myself, I wonder to myself, "Can I do it?" Right off, I'd like to say that I admire the courage of diabetic patients who must self-inject insulin daily. I guess you get used to it, but still. Man, my heart goes out to you.

Now that I've decided that I need to do it, the thought never really crosses my mind to get my wife or one of my kids to bear this burden, I think through where I'm going to do the injections. Since there are two different injections, I decide to give them in to different locations, something I'll come to regret. The last time I had a B-12 injection, I asked the nurse about self-injecting the B-12 and they said that the thigh was a good location. So after some thought, I finally settled on giving myself one injection in each thigh. Now I just had to do it.