[brochoParticipant]

Hi everyone I hope you are all ok , I havent been able to post much lately mainly due to having trouble staying awake for any length of time . I started on Bendamustine with Dex and Thalidomide last Friday , Saturday was awful as I was sick for most of the day but not been too bad since Because of the risk of DVT I have to have Fragmin injections daily For the last 5 years I have studiously avoided giving myself injections of any description, usually I would go to the surgery and community nurses have also done them for me Well this time I decided it was not realistic to rely on others and the time to be a brave little soldier had come!! The surgery nurse did the injection on Monday and talked me through it and yesterday was my turn —Aaaargh terror!! But I surprised even myself by not hesitating for a second before stabbing my rather wobbly tummy and didnt feel a thing . I suppose it was a bit childish to ask for a good girl badge in the absence of a blue peter one but she did give me a sticker!! Hooray another hurdle over with Mind you when I did todays jab it hurt like blazes!! Out of interest I was wondering if anyone else was a wimp like me about doing their own injections, so many of you seem to belong in the brave camp lots of love Bridget aka the Pincushion xx

[HelenParticipant]

Hi Bridget aka 'the pincushion'
I'm a nurse, I confidently expected to give my own gcsf so away I went to be watched doing it, I wobbled right at the start , hit my finger with the needle before it finally made contact with my tummy and I was horrified at how painful it was! :-/ not proud of this:-( and put it all down to nerves. I never thought I'd be telling any one else either, so let's just keep that between ourselves:-)
Helen

[brochoParticipant]

Hi Helen thankyou for making me feel less alone , I wont breathe a word!! I dont think I could ever inject someone else though , that has to be worse! My youngest daughter has Cystic Fibrosis and for years I did her IVs but only after someone else put the port-a- cath needle in, she always said she didnt trust me anyway!! Stay well love Bridget x

[HelenParticipant]

Hi
What is it about this time of night? You get used to injecting others. Are you still feeling sick? I had some great stuff before the melphalan called Aprepitent it stopped me being sick on the first day, then the ondansetron worked too.
Helen

[brochoParticipant]

Hi Helen I am on Domperidone , they give me a dose of IV anti-sickness before the Bendamustibe as well Thankyou for the tip I will ask about it on Friday love Bridget x

[HelenParticipant]

Hope it works, how is youngest daughter coping with her illness while you deal with yours?
Helen

[eveParticipant]

Hi Bridget and Helen
Defo late birds,was like that myself afew months ago, working hard to try to make sure I am not still buzzing in the early hours.:-/

Slim has been injecting himself for over 6 months now,no bruising but area less pliable,chose to do it himself as scared I would use him like a dart board:-P
To be honest I would be able to inject Slim,but if it was me I would be the biggest coward going,so Bridget I think you should be awarded a gold star.:-)

have been wondering why you had not posted love Eve

[MinParticipant]

Well done Bridget,
Hope it gets easier the more frequently you do it, I started doing it for peter then I did one bad one that hurt and he did it himself after that. Did they remember to give you a sharps box to put them in we had to ask for one!.
Hopefully you will be staying awake longer
Now. I have just learned some relaxation techniques and I am overdosing on sleep while trying it out its great just wish I had learnt them when peter was alive and I couldnt sleep. But I am sleeping for england Now Its brill
Love min

[brochoParticipant]

Hi Min thankyou They did ask if I had a sharps box , which I did but a few years ago I was left without one for a week ! Its so good to hear you are sleeping well , it really makes a difference Are you getting a good tan? Dubai sounds like a lot of fun , makes me quite envious!! love Bridget x

[brochoParticipant]

Hi Helen sorry but I dozed off last night and didnt see your last post My daughter copes really well I am very proud of her She lives alone and does all her IVs herself plus night feeds as and when she needs them Until this year she worked full time but it really was having a bad effect on her health, her weight dropped and she had a lot of IVs for chest infections Since stopping work she is so much better and her lung function has improved!! The life expectancy when she was born was early teens , recently it has been 30 which has always been on her mind but after speaking to her doctor yesterday she feels she has been given another 10 years because all her test results show an improvement , she no longer has to inject insulin as her glucose intolerance has sorted itself out So we are all much happier now Sorry I have been rambling love Bridget x

[GillParticipant]

Dear Pincushion

You are not rambling CF treatment has improved in leaps and bounds over the past 20 years or so (We knew somebody whose daughter had it as a teen in the 1980s) If you do want to ramble, ramble all you like I am so pleased that you are back to posting and feel a bit better.

As for a Blue Peter badge I think you do deserve one. Stephen did his own gcsf injections but needles have never bothered him. He did end up up with a bruised tummy but I am sure I read somewhere on here about not pinching the tummy upwards to inject to avoid bruising but cannot remember where. I hope somebody will come up with the best way to inject.

As for needles I am a total coward over ANY injection but I envy you your badge. When we went for our flu jabs I asked for a jelly bean but the nurse said they only gave them for polio drops and she did not have any stickers:-(

I did tell the nurse that I was more afraid of heights (being on the edge of something. Cliff, railway platform etc but I feel quite comfortable if there is a barrier waist high no matter how flimsy)

She pointed out that it was more sensible to be afraid of dropping from a great height and killing myself than having a tiny little needle stuck in my arm:-)

[HelenParticipant]

Dear Bridget
Not rambling, nice to know she's good, that's a lot of worry off your mind.
Eve I read and look things up at this time of night so that I don't wake at 4, that's when there seems to be no-one around and not even a car on the road, so it's very very quiet and I don't really like it! :-/
Helen

[eveParticipant]

Hi Everyone
Slim does have a few marks on his tummy with needles,,he has to pinch the flesh as not much there to put needle into,I do not think I could do it day after day.Over six months now have been told that,s the least he would be on them,specially now he is on Velcade and the damage to his lungs although cat scan showed his lungs have improved.
Its his chemo brain that worries me,and frustrates him.
As for being awake,I go through days like this,then I sleep for a full 8 hours every few day,I just wish I could settle to read a book,usually I am a prolific reader,but for pleasure that,s gone out of the window.
Slims just made me a cup of tea,so I will say good morning.Eve

[BADGERParticipant]

Hi Bridget
scary at first I know but ever since I have been put on steriods first off DEX then prednisolone for the kidneys my sugars have been too high so have had to inject insulin daily a real pain as it bruises me all the time the bruising is caused by the steriods apparantly its another side effect of them but hey ho we still here and moaniing so it must be a good sign BLUE PETER badges all round then. Sorry the treatment made you sick I really hope fingers crossed this works and gives you a great deal of relief you deserve it our little bright spark trying to cheer us all up
Love and big ((((hugs)));-)

Jo x

[brochoParticipant]

Hi Jo thankyou you always make me feel good You have my admiration for doing your own jabs all this time ! I hope you are fully over the food poisoning now , it sounds as if it was really horrible poor you Have a good weekend lots of love Bridget x

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