My first Remicade infusion on Monday actually turned out to be much less stressful than I thought it would be–an added bonus was that I was offered a piece of chocolate chip cookie cake after my pre-meds.
I could get used to that kind of arthritis treatment protocol: Remicade and chocolate!
I chose the recliner in the back so that I could be as far away from the television as possible, especially since a soap opera was on and I HATE soap operas.
I hope you appreciate the “artistic fuzziness” of this shot. Actually, it was accidental fuzziness but artistic fuzziness sounds more . . . well . . . artistic.
I had my very own personal IV pole . . .
and blood pressure cuff.
The nurse hooked me up and I was good to go!
Thankfully the infusion didn’t make me feel didn’t feel tired or nauseous; I just sat in a comfortable recliner for two hours, puttered on my computer and took a little nap. Not too bad, as medical treatments go!
I’ll have the next infusion in 2 weeks, then another one 4 weeks after that and then they will be every 8 weeks.
As long as there is chocolate at every visit, I’ll be just fine.
Our church has something called Connections Groups which meet in homes twice a month in order to help the members of our congregation get to know each other better.
Here’s a photo from last year showing our living room after we had set up for the group that met in our home.
Well, last week, we were needing a couple photos of a Connections group to advertise the upcoming season but unfortunately, the groups had taken a break over the summer and so there was no way to get a photo.
And so? We staff members decided to make up our own pretend Connections group just as a way of illustrating the concept behind the groups. We artfully arranged ourselves in Mary Ann’s office (who is our Associate/Youth Pastor) while she took a few shots of us.
We started out all serious and intellectual looking and tried to pretend like we were having great and profound thoughts.
Unfortunately, the pretend profundity didn’t last very long.
Linda (in the pink) and Cindy are two fun-lovin’ ladies and it only took about forty-five seconds for the serious-esque photo session to break out into some good-natured bantering and teasing.
Then Steve and Cindy decided that they should forget all about looking profound and should look bored instead, just for the fun on it. And so they each produced an impressively large yawn. (It looks like I was asleep but I’m quite sure I was just mid blink.
Don’t you love Steve’s expression? It’s really quite inspiring.
About the time we were getting really rowdy, Sarah came into the church. (She walks to the church after school each day.) She followed the sounds of our revelry down the hall and we invited her to join the fun.
And she did.
The end.
I don’t know how I missed that you are on Remicade. My 13 year old son used to take this med as treatment for Ulcerative Colitis. Unfortunately, his UC was severe and the infusions stopped being therapeutic for him after he developed antibodies to it. He is taking Humira now and is in clinical remission. But I still remember the infusion days, with him sitting in there for hours watching movies and me sitting outside in the waiting room trying not to fall asleep! Good luck with everything.
Maria,
Actually, I was switched from Remicade to Orencia in the past 6 months or so. Thankfully, the infusion is only 30 minutes instead of a half hour so I’m happy about that. I can imagine your son having to sit for 2 hours having his infusion was not too much for him OR for you! I’m glad he’s in remission; I know that’s been a long hard road for you guys. Hugs.
So glad your treatment wasn’t as anxiety-inducing as you might have feared!!
Thanks, Kristina. I’m glad, too!
i forgot to say…
You could have used your photo from last year for your ad, saying
“We need folks to fill these chairs for our Connections Group!”
ooOOOOOooooo… GREAT IDEA!!
You should be in advertising 😉
Mrs. Pam and Kristina–:) Nice to have creative thinkers in our midst!
Mrs. Pam – that is a great idea!
i think you should make a Therapy Dog Sweater for Summer so she can snuggle with you for those two hours. can you feel a difference after your infusion?
Howdy back to F&L…I had to chuckle with the Mayberry connection!
Mrs. Pam, yes, I would love to have Summer snuggle with me in that recliner for two hours and she really IS a therapy dog!
My favorite part also was Sarah coming in – I agree with Fred, sounds like Mayberry – I always wished I lived in Mayberry! I also love Steve’s expression as he looks at Sarah. Glad your infusion was not unpleasant – I hope they always offere chocolate something.
Mary,
Sarah coming in was your favorite part of the story and it’s always one of MY favorite parts of the day!
Becky, you must know that this is one of your BEST blogs ever!! 🙂
re: “Sarah came into the church. (She walks to the church after school each day.)” That sentence could stand alone as an entire blog – by itself. Especially for your readers who can picture the beautiful streets of Manteo.
It reminds me of Opie stopping by the courthouse after school, to see his dad, Sheriff Andy Taylor, in Mayberry.
~ Fred & Lucy
PS – Hello to Mrs. Pam 😉
Fred,
I never really thought about that connection till you mentioned it; the whole Opie/Andy thing made me smile!