Friday night, after my son's football practice, we headed out to pizza with the team. I found my self hanging around as long as possible, having a few (too many!) beers with the parents and procrastinating. I wasn't ready to go home. As excited as I am to be where we are at on this journey, I wasn't ready to face the fact that I had to stab myself with a needle. I was terrified that when I walked through my front door it was shot time. So instead, I poured myself another beer and continued to procrastinate.
11:30pm rolled around. I think we closed down the pizza place. It was time to head home. The team had opening day the next morning and we had to be back at the field at 8:30am. It was time to go home. It was time for the shot.
I prepped the syringe with 10 units of Lupron. Numbed my belly with ice. Rubbed the area with an alcohol swab. And then I stood there. The needle in my hand. I couldn't do it. I could't stab myself. Shaking my head, I yelled to Eric, "This is wrong!" thinking no one should ever have to stab them self. I continued to just stand there with the needle ready and in my hand. Finally, I gave the needle a little tap tap on my belly to see if I could feel anything. Nothing. No pain. Deep breathes.......I can do this!
Then I heard Aiden running down the stairs to give me a kiss goodnight and I thought to myself, damn it, I need to do this now. Tap, tap, tap, tap, puuuush!!!! It was in. No pain at all.
Psssht. I got this!!!
All that hype for nothing. It was literally painless.
Fast forward to Sunday night. I got a little too comfortable with my shot administering abilities. I thought, lets see if I can do this without the ice. There was a little pinch, but nothing more. Sweet!
Then a burning sensation crept up on me and lasted for about an hour. Dang it!! Was it because I didn't use ice? Maybe it was because I injected the Lupron too low on my belly?
The next morning (Monday) I woke up to this:
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| Don't mind the redish looking skin...this was taken from my camera phone. |
A nice dollar-coin-size bruise. Nice. Just nice.
Lesson learned. Use ice with every injection. And stay within 2 inches below the belly button when injecting the Lupron.
14 comments:
I don't think I could ever inject myself. I hope your tummy gets better cause theres more from were that came from. hehe
Way to go girl! I totally freaked out too on my first one! :) I never used ice and still had no pain. I'm wondering if you may have knicked a vein, thus the stinging and the bruise. Bummer! But you did it!!!! And so the injections begin! Thanks for sharing with us! It was fun to re-live the memory! :)
POOR BOO BOO! See, if you were a man that would be the END of all that and you would still be sitting in front of the TV with your feet up and an ice pack on your tummy! WOMEN ARE THE STRONGER GENDER FOR SURE!
I've never used ice for any of my injections. The Lupron injections are especially easy. The bruise (for me) happens when I press the needle against my skin and it doesn't puncture right away. Some spots seem to be more tough than others.
Stinging happens when the alcohol isn't dry before the injection, and sometimes the medication itself feels stingy. Make sure you hold the needle in place for at least 5 seconds after injecting before withdrawing the needle.
I never iced mine, but I noticed if i stayed about 4 fingers out from my belly button and didn't go higher than my belly button I was good too low or too high and I got the bruising and stinging. Also if I hit a stretch mark I bruised :( I knew you could handle it though, easy peasy right?! Getting closer!!
Not sure what the needle size is on these, but i remember the needles that i had to use for my insulin when i was preggo. I would pinch the skin(i.e. my fat!) and stick it in there. But perhaps your needles go deeper? Hence the bruising?
This is too funny because it is way too familiar. I remember being in the kitchen, pacing back and forth, trying to convince myself just to do it and get it over with already! The very first time I called my nurse and told her there was no way I could do it!! She told me I could have someone come to my house every time to give me the shots!! Now that was just nuts. After hours and hours, I finally did it. Got used to it within days.
I gotta tell you though, when you get to the injections in the booty area and your hubby has to do it, that is way worse. I cried and laughed so hard as he tried to gather the strength to do it. I don't know who was more nervous about the fact that HE was poking ME with a needle!! Him or me!
Fun memories =) You're doing great!
You are so funny, you made me LOL! I'm glad you were able to do it on your own and get past your fear of stabbing yourself. Can't wait to see how you do with the EIO and PIO (are you going to have PIO?) :) They're really not that bad.
No PIO for me, thank goodness!!!
Oh lucky girl, no PIO! I remember my 1st Lupron injection, I freaked the whole day knowing I had to do it and then it took me at least an hour to actually stick the needle in, lol. It's definitely a mind over matter thing, easy peasy! I never used ice, but I did get bruising if I knicked a vein or went a little too low.
Andrea,
Some insulin syringes have smaller needles. I have two varieties - both are BD but one has teeny tiny needles.
Ask your pharmacist to recommend the tiniest ones so that it doesn't hurt or cause much damage.
Hugs,
Linda
Thanks Linda! I'll look in to that if I continue to get bruises. So far, I'm good--nothing since Monday. I've also found that i "shoot" better to the right of my belly button and just a tad below the 2in mark. I'm getting the hang of it.. :)
brinkka2011 says: I printed a lot of your blog out thanks my friend
brinkka2011 says: I think you should use more images on your blog, but besides that, it is really great. Cheers.
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