I had my Ocrevus infusion today. My original appointment was for 9 am. I called yesterday to confirm that since I hadn't heard from the infusion center. They had me down for 8 am. I live 1 1/2 - 2 hours away depending on the time of day which is why I called. I didn't want to get there & then not have the drugs there. So my daughter & I trudge on up there in the dark at 6 am. We almost hit a dead deer that someone else had hit earlier (Its just about deer season here). The fog had set in & was patchy all the way there in the dark. She was driving & she doesn't like driving in the dark. Did I say it was still dark? No moon to light the sky just dark and foggy going through the Ouachita National Forest on a slightly windy road. We made it there with a couple of minutes to spare. We were happy, thought great we will get out of there an hour earlier than we had originally planned since they changed the time then we could go shopping afterward and still get back home before it was dark again. Well, that was just a silly thing to think! We went back got in the happy infusion recliner, got comfy and here comes the nurse to put the IV in to get started. HA! 4, count 1 2 3 4 nurses and 8, yes 8 sticks later they finally got the IV in. It took an hour. I am now a human sprinkler! And that precious shopping hour was gone because my veins decided to play hide & seek and close the valves so they couldn't get the needle in. They blew through 3 of them so now I have more bruises to match the ones from a couple of weeks ago when I was in the ER for A-fib that turned out to be thyroid toxicity. That only took 2 nurses and 4 sticks to get the IV in. For those of you that live in the city, you may not understand why that one hour of shopping time was precious. I live in the country. We have a Walmart and a few little local shops to go shopping in unless we want to drive 2 hours in any direction to places like Fort Smith, Hot Springs or Texarkana. So it is a treat to go shop somewhere else besides Walmart. So other than my veins aversion to needles, the infusion went great. No side effects of any kind at least not yet, it's only been 6 hours since the infusion was done, but I don't expect any side effects since I haven't had any yet & this is my 2nd full dose.
Thanks for listening to my ranting about driving in the foggy darkness of early morning coffee hours while anticipating a couple of precious hours of bonding and shopping with my daughter that was stolen from me by my uncooperative veins. I think I hear some chocolate calling.....:-)...
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hairbrain4
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Hey, where chocolate is concerned, I will back you up any time. So pleased that you have no side effects, blessings Jimeka 🍫 🍫 🍫 🍫 🍫 🍫
Thanks for sharing! Sorry to hear about all the need sticks; I hate walking around with big bruises from veins that “blew”! I had that happen a couple of weeks ago getting dye injected for my MRI and am still watching the colors. It’s great to hear you are tolerating the Ocrevus without side effects! I’m going to remember to bring some chocolate when I get my infusion! I’m going for the DARK.
That's such a good feeling to have the infusion done and behind you, correct hairbrain4 ? It unfortunate that you didn't enjoy shopping with your daughter, though. Then, there's always next time. I know, shopping at the mall and not at the Wall-mart is a treat, especially with your daughter, perhaps a unplanned shopping trip in in your future?
sorry for all the nurses that couldn't find a good vein before poking you ...wow..that is terrible...i am with you i like to make it a shopping trip also for we also live out in the boonies and we don't have a Walmart in town just a dollar tree ,bimart and several grocery stores and of course bars and gas stations ...i do enjoy that time afterwards unless something happens like you had ...knock on wood it doesn't happen to me ...they just keep tapping and looking for a good vein and i have had these since 2017..good luck for the next time...hopefully have nurses better at finding a vein ...love and happiness ....enjoy life ,smile and have a good laugh ...
They were finding the veins but half of them they hit a valve. They said my veins are "valvey" and won't let the needle go past it. When they tried to force it they blew the vein. Then the other ones just rolled away. I've got great veins for drawing blood all day long but the ones that "suck stuff" in just aren't that cooperative!
Sounds like you are in my uncle's neck of the woods...he lives in a mountain area in Heavener, OK and if you want to go to a big store you have to go to the next big county. Have been to Fort Smith and Texarkana when I visited my mom when she was alive.
Sorry for all the poking you had to endure and you missed out on your shopping trip. When I was hospitalized for a blood clot in 2007, they were getting blood so often that nobody can get blood out of my left arm now. My right arm had an iv in it.
Yes, we are close to Heavner. Everyone here goes there to buy liquor because we are in a dry county & they are closer than Ft. Smith. Living in the Bible Belt can be a little deceiving, they are "closet drinkers." And if you run into someone you know there that is a prominent member of the church or a business, they have a whole line of excuses as to why they are there, because of course, they aren't buying it for themselves.
Nothing much worse than having to endure repetitive needle sticks! I am so sorry you had to endure that. You must be near Mt. Magazine area? Beautiful part of Arkansas. I grew up in north central AR - I love going home.
Dove dark chocolate is my favorite. I believe it has healing powers!!!
it depends what time my appt is ,if it is early,yes later we usually do round trip..I tell myself,it's all good..We have a group of local neuro's and when I was 1st was diagnosed I went to them,and one of the 1st thing I was told from the local dr. was "I don't do disability" and it was never brought up.for goodness sake they are neuro's!of course they have to "do" disability duhhhh!
Sorry to hear this! Did you drink plenty of water beforehand? Same happened to me when i went for a blood draw once and did not drink much water prior. glad your infusion went well though!
Ah yes, nine years ago when they were prepping me for neck fusion, they had their rookie nurse try to put in the IV tube. They used Novocain on my hand, but it quit at the seventh attempt. Finally at 16 tries, I said that was enough, the rookie nurse was crying and her boss was standing behind her. Boss nurse finally took over and got the vein in the top of my hand. That last one was #17. After that, try they pushed the night night meds. Surgery went fine, even got my left arm back! All felt fine until six hours later when the Surgeon stopped by to rip the tape off my neck. I immediately said... Pain meds NOW! Great to hear the infun
I was gone and am now getting to past posts. I hope the chocolate has helped plug the holes. I can totally relate. Experienced people can't even get blood from me! Once when I was going to have surgery I wasn't scared of that but the IV. Once it was in I was asked if I needed anything to help me stay calm. I said, Heck no! The hard part is over!
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