Has MS ever taken over your refrigerator?

During my two years on Copaxone, Multiple Sclerosis took over my fridge. I couldn’t get out the milk for my coffee without being reminded that I live with this complicated neurological disease. Every time I opened the fridge, I saw that blue box filled with fresh needles. Ugh.

The dreaded nightly routine of administering Copaxone would flush my thoughts as I reached for the salad dressing, grabbed mustard for my sandwich or checked to see if there was anything decent to nibble on. Those Copaxone syringes stared at me even if I tried to tuck them away on the bottom shelf of the door, seemingly out of site. Yet whenever I opened the fridge, the lot of them appeared to yell out “HI! WE’RE HERE TO REMIND YOU THAT YOU LIVE WITH MS. NOW GRAB A SYRINGE, PACK UP THE AUTOJECT AND GET ON WITH IT.”

Sure, MS took over my refrigerator. At times, it seems it has taken over my life. 

C.

My First Week of Daily Injections

During my first week of taking daily injections of Copaxone, I have learned a lot, I have accomplished a lot, and all the while surviving it all!

Here is my list of “Top 10 Things I Learned During My First Week of Taking Daily Injections”

10.  The cats will play with the Autoject 2 needle cap once it is released so I have to be careful to dispose of it properly.  They love playing soccer.

9.  Finding the right time and place for injection is important.  For me?  The bedroom since it’s equipped with a sound machine.  I find listening to rain to be very calming.  Until the neighbors’ music is turned up – argh!  Turn it down &*$%^, I am trying to meditate!      

8.  Definitely use the daily planner provided by Shared Solutions to keep track of injection sites.  It’s only been a week and I’ve already fallen out of rotation, skipping over the thigh and straight onto the stomach.  I really like following directions and do not like falling out of order.  I want an A.  

7.  Preparing the syringe for injection is fun!  Seriously.  I like loading and locking the syringe into place, it's rather much like loading a gun.  I really hate guns and have never used one but this step sort of makes me feel like I am on a special mission, like a secret agent getting ready to fight the bad guys.  Agent 99 takes on MS! 

6.  Calm. Down.  Relax.  And.  Breathe.  I find that I get a little worked up just before injecting and need to remind myself of this mantra.  Calm.  Down.  Relax.  And.  Breathe. 

5.  The needle doesn’t hurt at all.  Sometimes I find myself asking, “Did it go in?  Is this thing working right?”  Then the burning arrives and I know everything is working just the way is supposed to. 

4.  Having my partner with me while I injection is UBER important, especially during these first few weeks.  On Friday night I jammed my gun, I mean my Autoject 2, and I panicked.  She stepped in and fixed everything for me. Sigh.  “Calm. Down. Relax. And. Breathe”, she said. 

3.  Taking pictures of where I inject is a great idea (thanks Anna!).  There is no way I will remember where I inject, no matter what I write in my daily planner.  I will try this during Week 2. 

2.  Trying not to let the injections take over your life is challenging.  I do think about it all the time, growing anxious about accidentally skipping a day.  Yikes.  Maybe an alarm will help.

 

1.  Save the most important thing for last, that’s the intention of this list.  The reason why I take Copaxone every day is to slow down the progression of my MS.  I do not want this disease to get any worse so here goes nothing.  Bring on the shots!   

C

2 Down 14,965 to Go!

On Day Two of taking Copaxone shots, I came to the realization that I have A LOT more shots to get through in my lifetime!  Assuming I live to the ripe old age of 82, I have 14,965 shots to go.  Rather daunting isn't it?  I would like to put in my vote to fast track FDA approval of the first oral MS drug please!

Good Grief!

C  



06/29/10
Journal Excerpt

I'm Gonna Need a Distraction!

I survived my first shot of Copaxone tonight!  The needle did not hurt at all.  The stuff afterwards bothered me.  Lots of burning.  Good grief!  The training nurse said it is a good idea to think about something else while this is happening, to keep your mind off of it.  Tomorrow I think I will think about riding in one of these.  Or, maybe it could be the bubble that protects me.  Or, maybe it's just plain fun!  

C

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