First Ocrevus Infusion
My infusion last Monday went great! I was really nervous about having a bad reaction but it seems like the pre-infusion meds did their job. I spent some time over the weekend doing things to make it a nice and easy week for me. I cleaned the condo, went grocery shopping, and did a bunch of cooking. The night before I packed a bag of comfort items and things to keep me occupied for a few hours.
The morning of I was running a bit late, I don’t know why I thought I’d be able to make a 7:30am appointment on time, so breakfast was a smoothie packed with protein power and a granola bar. The nurse that got me all set up was great. She ran through the process with me and was delighted to hear that someone had already given me a run down of the process. I can’t even imagine walking into an infusion appointment with no prior knowledge of what to expect but the nurse said that it happens all the time.
First, the nurse got an IV set up on my hand, but it didn’t feel quite right when she pushed some saline through. So she moved the IV to the crook of my elbow and it was so much more comfortable there, no weird feeling when she pushed saline through this time. Then I was ready for the pre-infusion meds. I got both Zyrtec and Benadryl, some Tylenol, and a dose of steroids. After about a half hour, to give time for all the pre-infusion meds to get into my system, it was time for the infusion.
I was incredibly nervous about this infusion because my first MS treatment was a rough experience. The meds had to be administered by self-injection and the first time I had a nurse walking me through the process but it was incredibly painful. I told the nurse about the sensations I was having and she just kind of shrugged her shoulders and was like “that’s never happened to my patients before.” Then welts that were incredibly painful would rise at the injection sites several days after my injections. I was only on that treatment for a month before I had to call it quits. It took me several months to start a new treatment because of the experience I had with the first treatment. I was really worried that I might have a bad reaction to this infusion treatment.
Thankfully they start the infusion treatment at a slow drip to see how the body responds and then slowly increase the rate. By the end of my infusion we had been able to increase the rate to the fastest possible which makes me think the next infusion will go a bit quicker. The chair I got to sit in reclined and I was even able to doze for the first couple of hours, getting my vitals checked every half hour. After dozing I was able to snack, play the game I had bought for my BFF’s Switch, and mess around on my phone.
I knew I was going to be very hungry when I was done with the infusion appointment so I checked out restaurants in the area to grab a meal on my way home. I found the perfect place called Rehab Burger Therapy. It was a damn good burger. I thought I would be exhausted after the appointment but I felt pretty good the rest of the day, which probably was the steroids. I was even feeling up to do a video chat with friends while they opened a package I sent with housewarming gifts. Even though I was feeling pretty good I took it easy that day hanging out with the animals and playing video games.
The next two days were rough for me though. I got my period so I spent those days resting hard because I could barely keep myself up. I was really thankful that I had taken the time to do so much prep work. The condo was clean and tidy so it was a pleasant space to be in. There were plenty of food choices between the food I had cooked over the weekend and the microwave meals I had stocked up on for quick and easy options.
My next infusion appointment is next Monday and I’m feeling pretty good about it! I won’t need another infusion for six months and that gives me plenty of time to get myself moved back to the PNW and get my healthcare all set up. Which is a huge relief because I got really stressed out trying to get myself all set up when I moved to Arizona and it took a lot longer than I thought it would. So even if I run into some issues I don’t think I’m going to run into the same lapse in treatment problem that I had when I moved back to Maryland.
