At last!!! Having now had Dara every month for the last 4 and a half years – bloody hell – the miracle has finally happened.
Dara has gone from being an IV infusion – an all day, cannulated, attached to a drip stand bit of an effort, where I'm in the Dark Side from 9.30am-4.30pm – to being AN INJECTION!!!
Bugger me, why couldn't they have come up with that a bit sooner, she says, calculating that I have spent over 300 HOURS sitting here, having Dara, so far over the years.. And that's just this one drug..
Anyway – at least the sub-cut as they call it, is finally here – and I had my first one last week.
Now its not exactly a pretty sight. I already have a Velcade injection three times a month, which goes into my stomach and leaves a big red mark each time, so they have to constantly swap sides and I look like a bruised gut monster. This is given over a minute, so it stings less and supposedly leaves less trace – well, that doesn't exactly work but hey ho.
So when they said that the Dara injection was FIFTEEN times the volume of Velcade, I did have a sudden vision of going home pumped up like a bloody football.
And then of course was the concern over the needle size – surely not 15 x bigger than the Velcade one too???!!!!
All was ok – its given over a 5 minute period as it is quite a volume, and I now have to lie flat for this one. But you can imagine I wasn't too keen when the lovely Tanya came at me brandishing this puppy!!!!
Bejasus! Have to admit I did turn on the TV for a spot of background distraction as that was going in. But it was actually fine – and although I had to be observed for 2 hours post-jab as its the first time I've had this format, from now on it should be a much faster in and out.
Still, now the big conundrum as to what time to book in for future Daras. If I come at 9.30am when they open, I might now be done & dusted and gone before lunch is delivered. And if it's 10.30 or later, I might miss the all-important kitchen lady picking up the food orders. And I'm not putting up with that massive needle unless there's at least a jacket potato thrown into the mix… ! Oh decisions, decisions….
Still – its a whole new way forward and frees up lots of hours that belong to me again – that, as they say, is a right Brucey Bonus.
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