07/17/24 – As the years go by, it is difficult for me to express how blessed my life has been. I now have 3 grandchildren… with another on the way. I find my health improving and myself feeling stronger. It has been 16 years since I was first diagnosed, and at 63 years of age, I still work full time… plus about a year ago I started to play music as a solo performer at local bars, breweries, restaurants, etc… Although I only perform 2 to 3 times a month… when I have a gig, I play for 3 hours. This certainly takes a lot of energy… energy I didn’t have just a few short years ago.
I won’t lie, I have had a few health issues. I had mentioned on a prior post that a weakness was found in my heart, which is caused by all the chemo I have had over the years. After treating this issue with medication, tests now show that my heart is back to normal. God is Good!
I also had an incident a couple of months ago where I was experiencing chest pain and I ended up in the ER. After an array of tests, it was found my heart and lungs were fine. In addition, the tests showed that I had no tumors. So, as crazy as it may sound, my trip to the ER resulted in good news. God is Good!
The one incidental finding from my visit to the ER was my gallbladder was pretty full of gallstones. It’s nothing that needs to be addressed urgently, but me and my gallbladder may be headed for a permanent separation.
The one thing that remains a bit of a challenge for me is my immune system. Anytime I stop my IVIG’s for a while, I start getting upper respiratory infections. Another challenge has been that my veins are getting harder and harder to find. I have become an IV nurse’s nightmare. On the day of my IVIG infusion, the nurse would take as long as an hour to find a good vein. When the infusion finally started, in a short time my arm would begin to swell. This was caused by the needle in my arm slipping and the IVIG medication would start to accumulate under my skin. Of course, we would need to stop the infusion and start the process of finding another vein. I decided to speak to my doctor about stopping the IVIG’s. Instead of stopping… he suggested we try something new. With this new procedure I would receive the immune boosting drug via a subcutaneous injection. I decided to give this a try. The new drug is: Xembify – Immune Globulin Subcutaneous Human – klhw 20%. This is something I would receive this once a week (versus the once per month with the IVIG’s).
A subcutaneous injection is a method of administering medication. Subcutaneous means under the skin. In this type of injection, a short needle is used to inject a drug into the tissue layer between the skin and the muscle. Medication given this way is usually absorbed more slowly than if injected into a vein, sometimes over a period of 24 hours.
With this subcutaneous injection, I am now able to administer the drug to myself, without needing the services of a nurse. On the day of my treatment I do the following:
· I load the drug into a syringe.
· I then connect tubing that has 3 short needles on
it.
· The syringe is then attached to a pump.
· I then inject the 3 needles (into my belly, arm,
legs…. anywhere I could grab some loose/pinchable skin) and attached them with a
clear medical adhesive to secure each needle…
· and then I start the pump.
· The pump runs about an hour.
I have gone through this
process a number of times and I must say it is so much easier to do. It’s hard
to believe that a process that was very difficult and stressful for me and my nurse
is now so simple and stress free. God is Great!
Like I said at the beginning of this post…. I am very blessed… and I am so thankful for my good health and my wonderful life I have been given the opportunity to live. Now, I need to make the best of this opportunity... I need to strive to be the best person I could be…. I need to make sure I live life to the fullest… and most of all, I need to treat every day as a gift from God.
Here is a great song by Switchfoot that helps us strive to live life to the fullest… It’s called “More Than Fine” Enjoy!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZWbl5a0NQA
"I came that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" - John 10:10
More to come…
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