My last hope was a doctor about 30 miles from here. Better than 60 I guess. It was successful, he agreed to do the Remicade and work with my GI in Pittsburgh. I was so very happy. All I had to do now was wait to be put on the schedule. His office did Remicade for many Arthritis patients. He agreed that Remicade was going to make me feel a lot better. By this time I was real tired of hearing how much better I was going to feel, I wanted the Remicade.
Finally the date was set. Sept.28th at 8AM I would receive my first Remicade treatment. I was so excited. The days drug by till the 28th.
There is no preperation what so ever for Remicade. You just show up. But you know us "chronnies", of course I did not eat anything considering I was nervous anyway and had to be there at 8 AM.
I arrived at the office a little early about 7:45. It took the nurses till almost 9 am to get the I.V. started. There are some places that pretreat patients with Benedryl and pain medication in case of side effects but this GI clinic did not. They weighed me ... started the IV with saline soulution. Mixed the Remicade and returned and added the new IV bag. It was a pretty nice situation no "gown" was needed they even had a VCR so you could bring a movie and watch it. I was in a chair that reclined not on a bed.
The infusion went well. Just hung out for two hours letting it drip into my veins. A lot of things go through your mind when you're sitting there. Like all the things you have gone through with this disease. Why you have it. Why they can not find a cure. What will be the long term effects of this stuff going into your veins. When will it take affect. How will you feel. What if it doesn't work.
Finally I was done and I had to stay for about 30 minutes after the treatment to make sure I did not have a reaction. I felt fine. Did not seem to be any side effects yet. I was starved because now it was almost noon.
