Saturday, June 19, 2010

What the heck am I supposed to do with this thing?

When we came home from work the other night, a white package was resting on our doorstep.  Yay!  A present!  I had been shopping on line and was super excited that this might be one of the things I ordered.  Cool!  “That was fast”, I thought to myself.  I had just ordered stuff the day before.   I opened the package and discovered that it was an Autoject 2, an automatic injection device.  Oh yeah.  My injection trainer mentioned the auto injection would arrive in a white envelope.  I’m to hold onto this until my training session.  Where is my order from Amazon?

And what the heck?  According to the instructions, there are 9 steps to using this thing!  First I have to determine the correct needle adjustment.  Huh?  Next I have to prepare one dose and unscrew the syringe housing (there is a figure drawing to help me navigate). Third, I have to set the automatic injection and make sure I do not press the blue firing button.  Whoa.  I don’t want to shoot something accidentally!  Fourth, I prepare the device for injection.  How fun.  It’ll be like when we played doctor when we were kids.  Fifth, I select the injection site. Not fun.  This is the part where I choose the part on my body where I’d like to administer the shot.  Sixth, I inject the drug.  This is when I press the blue firing button (le bouton bleu).  Ouch?  Not sure if it will hurt.  My good friend Mel says it feels like a bee sting.  A bee never stung me.  Does it hurt?  Seventh, I remove and dispose of the syringe.  Eighth, I clean my Autoject 2 and Ninth, I store it safely. 

Luckily, my instructions are also available in French so I can take this time to get more familiar with the language I learned in high school and college.  It will be a GREAT distraction.  So here goes nothing!  Me and my Autoject 2 pour seringue en verre (for glass syringe) are ready for training!

C

2 comments:

  1. I've been using one for my Rebif for years. Well, it looks the same as yours, pretty much, and the instructions sound like mine, anyhoo.

    It hurts. Sometimes it hurts like hell. Sometimes it's just a bit hurty and sometimes, I can't even feel it at all. This is probably the "fault" of having MS and nothing to do with the device.

    I still get red marks from it, too. They can last up to a week, even though I always change the shot location.

    But - it's really quick and easy (the bit that takes me longest is pressing the button, my head just won't let me do it for ages, sometimes.) I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. I have tried just injecting myself (too shaky) and having my husband do it (too slow) and truly, the device is much, mush better.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Vix, thanks for stopping by. Yes, the shots sometimes hurt and sometimes don't. The device is so much easier but I am reaching the point where my thighs look like moon craters! Best, Christie

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