Take 2

Well.....this past weekend marked my 2nd time taking Pegylated Interferon, it went rather smoothly- I think what did the trick was popping an extra strength Advil shortly after taking the injection. The last time I took Interferon I waited for the side effects to set in and only then I took an Advil- I guess this time I was proactive rather than reactive.

This time around was also my first time doing the injection on my own, the previous time I was supervised by a nurse. I personally find the tricky part of injections is psyching yourself out into puncturing the injection site- I mean, you know its gonna hurt! I'm lucky for the reason that I only have to do this every 2 weeks- I know other CML patients/diabetics etc. who have to undergo these kinds of injections on daily basis.....I'm sure this gets easier over time- the experts tell me after the first couple of months you can do these injections in your sleep.

Also, the first time I injected I raved about the wonders of Wheatgrass- a few experienced patients e-mailed me and told me to scale back on my wheatgrass.....although you get a kick of energy from Wheatgrass- wheat grass is an anti-oxidant and oxidants are useful in attacking harmful cells......I don't think I would've ever figured that out on my own (I'm lucky to have a solid network of experienced patients giving me pointers). The benefits of blogging I guess.

My advice to all newly diagnosed patients- become friends with experienced/knowledgeable patients.....you'd be surprised how many CML'ers have been around for 10+ years- they have a wealth of wisdom and experience to share with you. I have a lot of respect and admiration for the "old- timers"......I've been on the scene for 3+ years and I can't wait to get out....how some of you have been doing this for over a decade beats me (I'm sure they're surprised themselves!)

For those of you unfamiliar with CML- these new wonder drugs are a recent discovery......in the good old days (ie. the late 1990's/early 2000's) patients were loaded up with high dose Interferon- you'd hear horror stories of the side effects; depression, psychosis, severe fatigue, disabling cramps and muscle pain, hair loss......yikes! To further complicate the situation this wasn't a temporary set-back that would last a few months.....this was their means to survival!

Doctors often tell their patients to realize how fortunate they are, patients like myself got into the game at a time when research was advanced and modern science had a detailed understanding of this disease- that's great.....believe me patients like myself do realize how lucky we are- but nobody wants this disease and nobody wants to be on these drugs. The patient world really needs to push doctors and industry into fighting this disease more aggressively.

I'm looking forward to a time in the future when CML will be a thing of the past. Now, if we could only find out how they get the caramilk into the Caramlik bar........

P.S. Please see the detailed comment left on my last post- I found it to be very informative.