Y'all, calcium gummies slap.
RED ALERT!
RED ALERT!
RED ALERT!
Alfre couldn't be here this morning.
That means I had to give myself the filgrastim injections.
SOMEHOW, I survived. I'm not sure how, but I'm here. Look at God work, won't he do it.
Got up at 8 like I did yesterday, pulled the meds out of the fridge by 8:30, and did the deed at 9. Okay, okay, okay... it wasn't that bad. I did it sitting today; I grasped the skin with one hand, lined up the needle, and pushed in without looking until the needle stopped. Released the skin, and began the injection. Repeated this process for injection #2.
Thankfully, Alfre says he can be here tomorrow to save me the meltdown - and hey - tomorrow's the last day of injections!
Something I haven't brought up yet is the calcium intake. Because of what the drugs are doing to my body, plus having to donate my blood stem cells on Thursday, I have to take five 500mg calcium tablets per day.
I was told that I could take the calcium in any form (pill, gummy, etc).
Y'all know I went with the gummies.
So on Sunday when I came home after the first filgrastim shots, I walked downstairs from my apartment where there's a Walgreens at the end of the block and found this wonderful bottle of calcium gummies, fruit flavored.
Y'all, I'm living my childhood dream.
Did you take gummy vitamins when you were a kid? Were you only allowed to eat one a day, but you wanted to just fucking pound back a bottle of gummy Flintstones because they tasted like Sour Patch Kids?
Well now you can! All you have to do is donate bone marrow and you'll be required to take five at a time! Like a handful of candy.
So that's the highlight of my day.
My daily pain barometer is this: Do I feel like I can go to the gym?
So far, I can. This is turning out to be nowhere near as painful as the side effects were said to possibly be.
Typically on any normal day, I jog three miles (1.5 to the park and 1.5 back), then head to the on-site gym in my building for about an hour of weightlifting.
Here's where I am now: I can't comfortably run (hips hurt), but I can walk at a brisk pace! So I'm walking those three miles. The weightlifting has gone uninterrupted, shockingly enough. The muscle/joint/bone pain that was said to be a side effect of the filgrastim has honestly been relegated to my hips and lower back.
I will say however, that I'm exhausted afterward. My workouts usually tire me, but I have been spent after the last couple days. Will I be able to complete a workout on Wednesday? Stay tuned to find out!
The exhaustion isn't solely after a workout, either. Today had me feeling lethargic, both mentally and physically.
To recap those side effects for Day Three:
Lethargy
Discomfort in the hips
Discomfort in the lower back
Bonus:
A solidified [and still irrational] fear of needles.
Day One: ✓
Day Two: ✓
Day Three: ✓
Day Four: _
Donation Day: _
If you are interested in signing up to become a bone marrow donor yourself, please visit BeTheMatch.org.