As part
of my on-going treatment for multiple myeloma, I receive a shot once a month of
Xgeva. Xgeva is given to MM patients and
cancer patients whose cancer has metastized to the bone. The primary function, as
I understand it, is to help prevent breaks.
For me
the routine is as follows. Once a month, I go to the Vanderbilt labs for blood
work. I then go to the oncology room to wait on the results of said
bloodwork. When I started this process,
my wait time on results took approximately 1.5-2 hours. The last 3 times have taken
up to 4 hours.
Since my
diagnosis, my opinion of sitting in a waiting room has drastically
shifted. On the day that the lesions
were found in my bones by an orthopedic doctor, I went directly to my primary
care physician to begin the diagnosis process. She pulled me directly out of
the waiting room and began running tests. I cannot tell you what it meant to me
to have her attack my issue so quickly and thoroughly. And now, when I sit in a
waiting room, I think about that and I think about the next person who might
need a quick response to a life-altering diagnosis.
With all
of that said, sitting in a waiting room for 4 hours is still not a comfortable
scenario. The seats are hard and the magazines are old. My phone battery inevitably
runs down and the afternoon shows on HGTV are always re-runs. As a Christian, I
do use the time, however, to pray, for myself, my care team and the others in
the waiting area. This week, there was some relationship drama playing out in
the waiting room. It’s hard on my soul to listen to people fight, even if I am
only getting one side of the conversation. I found myself deeply sorrowful for
the young woman who was hashing out her relationship in a room where living is
the main objective. I sure hope she finds her worth and a man who values it.
A sweet
nurse took me into one of the oncology rooms about 3 hours into my wait. I was
so thankful for a warm blanket, a tv remote and a reclining chair. It would be
another hour before my oncologist gave his approval of my labs for me to get my
shot. And then, just like that, in a matter of 10 minutes, it was time to go.
While
everyone reacts differently to treatment, the aftermath of my shot is always
pain. Pain in my joints. Pain in my back. Pain in every major bone in my body.
Oh, and a raging headache, not a migraine, thank God, but a doosie
nonetheless. The pain is pretty intense
in the first 24-36 hours. I walk like the crooked man walking his crooked mile.
They tell you to take Claritin, and for the life of me I don’t know how it
helps, but it does. I take Claritin as
part of my nightly meds and so going to sleep with the pain is less problematic
than it would be otherwise. However, I take
a different antihistamine during the day, and it does not seem to affect the
bone pain. Go figure.
Today is
day 3 after my shot this week and I’m beginning to feel better with only lingering
pain in my right shoulder blade (the one that was broken) and hips. It’s much
easier to ride the pain out when you know it will eventually go away. I’ve
never had a high tolerance to pain, or illness for that matter, so every time I
work through the “after-shot”, I remind myself how far I’ve come. It’s as important
to the healing process as any prescribed medication, and some days just as hard
to swallow. I don't get it right every time, but I'm learning.
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