15. Neupogen, days 2 and 3

Yesterday I spent part of the day with old friends at a place where a nurse could not come to give me the second Neupogen shot. One of those friends, whom I hadn’t seen in about 25 years, was a doctor, and she agreed to supervise my self-injection.

Soon as I arrived, we headed into the women’s handicapped-accessible bathroom. “Wow, I can’t believe it’s been so long!” I said, and then pulled down my pants and began to laugh. It was, by any stretch of the imagination, a ridiculous situation. My friend, very serious back in the 80s and, I soon discovered, more so now, didn’t find it funny at all, which made me laugh even more. I quickly composed myself and laid the injection paraphernalia atop the toilet tank.

I was able to fill the needle with medicine, but was grateful for her presence—I didn’t realize that you have to keep pushing and depressing the plunger to get the air at the top to disappear. The first shot was easy, but halfway through the second I had a moment of panic that that the needle was going too far into my thigh, and froze. Very eager to leave the bathroom (“People might get the wrong idea!”), she pushed my hand away and finished plunging. She was already gone by the time I pulled the needle out of my leg. (She did eventually laugh about the whole thing later that afternoon.)

I felt just fine afterwards—tired, a few twinges. Woke up this morning without any pain. A chatty and pleasant visiting nurse arrived at 9AM to give me day three injections, along with a story of the famous bone marrow donor she visited a few weeks ago who got both their photos in the paper. My lower back, legs, and right shoulder did begin to hurt a few hours later, as if I had slept funny or overdone it at the gym. It was impossible to find a comfortable way to sit on the couch, but the floor was just fine. And the pain went away entirely after two extra-strength Tylenol. Now I’m kind of stiff, and glad I don’t have to take any long walks.

Another shot tomorrow morning followed by lots of distracting work, and then I have to write a note to give to the recipient. And download some movies to my iPad. And then I show up at the hospital Tuesday at 8AM, bringing layers of clothing because I’ll probably get cold during the donation. (But how will I put on a sweater if I have IVs in both arms?)