Starting the Injections

For the four days leading up to donation and also on the first donation day I have to get daily injection of filgrastim which is a drug that will stimulate my stem cell production. It is supposed to make me feel a bit tired and achy, but the biggest issue for me is that I have to stop nursing for a week while the filgrastim is in my system. It's for a good cause, but I know E isn't old enough to understand that and he certainly enjoys his nursing time. I anticipate a couple of rough nights at my house this week. Also, I am giving myself the injections. For the first one I have to go to the clinic and the doctor will monitor me for any allergic reaction. After that they will load me up with the necessary supplies and give me a quick crash course in poking myself. I didn't have to do it myself, but since that was an option and needles don't both me I thought I might as well give it a go. Doing the injections at home sounded pretty convenient and I will have the opportunity to show my 4 yr old who just last week received his 4 yr vaccines and complained about how unfair it is that grown ups don't get shots.

Day One
I arrived at the clinic where they took my vitals and of course another blood sample. The nurse came in to give me the injection and since I'm actually getting two injections each day she let me do one today so I could practice. It really wasn't bad at all and I barely felt anything. They loaded me up with two bags containing all the medical supplies I would need.

Day Two
The first night with no nursing went pretty well. Daddy set up a tent in the living room and they had a boys' camp out. Daddy thought it might be easier to break the usual routine and make a night with no mommy seem exciting. I heard E crying for me about 3am, but I stayed put and after a little cartoon distraction and daddy love E was back asleep.

I had to call Arlene before my injections to report my vitals. She is collecting data on my temperature, pulse, and blood pressure every day and is also asking me a slew of questions about how I'm tolerating the medication. I had a little backache this morning, but nothing too uncomfortable. I started feeling a bit tired by the afternoon, but I had a coke and it picked me right up. Caffeine has been a nice perk of my nursing hiatus. By early evening I had mild pain in my neck and legs, moderate pain in my back, and a headache. I took ibuprofen, but I think I probably should have taken it sooner. Lesson learned for tomorrow.

Day Three
Today I felt achy and by early evening I upped my dose of ibuprofen. With the ibuprofen it wasn't bad at all. I felt kind of like I did in the late stages of pregnancy with a dull ache in my back and a general feeling of discomfort, but not enough to stop me from going about my day as normal. Baby E slept through the night without waking to nurse once. He did wake up and cry for me about 5am, but since it was close enough to usual waking time he decided to just get up. He's definitely unhappy about it and today was probably worse because I was by myself with him all day, but he's been doing better than I expected. Big brother has been a huge help offering distractions any time E whines to nurse.

Day Four
I'll admit that day 4 ended up being a little rough, but it was my fault. In the morning we went shopping and then out to lunch. I had taken my ibuprofen and was feeling okay. I lost track of time and was late with my second dose which I regretted. The key is really to not ever let the ibuprofen wear off. I certainly have an appreciation for ibuprofen now because without it I felt horrible, but with it I am okay. By evening I was feeling moderate pain all over even with the ibuprofen so I upped my dose again. Now most of my body feels sore kind of like you would the day after a really tough workout. I catch myself constantly stretching because bone pain does feel a lot like muscle pain. Of course stretching doesn't really help, but it's almost a reflex reaction. Yesterday and today I have been experiencing a sharp throbbing ache in my back every time I stand up. It only lasts about 5 seconds so it's not bad just odd. It's almost like a migraine in my back because I can feel the pain throb along with my heartbeat. Again, it passes very quickly so it's been kind of like holy-mother-of oh wait never mind.

All in all I have to say my experience has been pretty good. The rough times were really my own fault for not being more careful about taking the ibuprofen. My advice to anyone who is considering PBSC is to constantly take something for pain even if you don't think you need it.