Day 25 - Toc Time Again

I have an infusion every 4 weeks.  The drug is called toculizumab and is part if the biologics family of medications.  These drugs have changed peoples lives and have certainly changed mine.  I've been on several biologics over the last 11 years, all with different degrees of success, but this drug is the one that has had the most impact and has made me feel the most human.

The infusion takes around and hour and, so far, I've had no side effects.  I have to have bloods done just before the infusion just to make sure I'm well enough to have the drugs as it's quite powerful.

I've had a bit of a rough day at the hospital today.  Whilst the nurses were dong their usual checks my blood pressure was very high.  The nurses were unable to start the infusion until my blood pressure came down and unfortunately it didn't.  The nurses called the doctor in to see me and he asked a few questions about my surgery.  He decided the blood pressure was due to the pain in my knee and also the fact that I take steroids and said it was ok to go ahead with the medication.

Unfortunately the infusion was stopped halfway through because I had a very dry throat and a bit of a cough.  The nurses were reluctant to start it again as my blood pressure was still far too high but they eventually decided that I'd be ok to have the last few mls.

At the end of it all my blood pressure was still high so I had to wait, the nurses wanted me to stay in hospital over the weekend which I didn't really want to do.  Thankfully, after a while, my blood pressure came down and I was able to leave the hospital.

So today's photo is my infusion site.  Not for the squeamish but this is my life.