{Filgrastim Injections 1-4}

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Sunday was Mikey's first filgrastim injection. We were suppose to start injections two weeks ago, but we got a call from DKMS that the patient had gotten worse or caught a sickness and was unable to move forward at the time. This was such shock and made us so sad for him and his family. They said that they did not know if/when the donation would take place. Last week we received the call saying the patient's doctor has decided that the patient will be strong enough for the donation to move forward. Meaning that the patient will start receiving extremely high levels of chemo and radiation therapy to destroy the disease cells. After the 6-12 days of treatment the patient needs to receive the transplant or there is almost no chance of survival after destroying all the good and bad cells in their body.

Mikey got his first Filgrastim injection on Sunday. Normally you would have your first injection at a hospital (in case of an allergic reaction to the medication) and the rest they would hire a nurse to come to your home or workplace.  DKMS tried to contact Hospitals and Insta Cares here in Utah to set up the the first injection, but no one would agree to give it. They did find a home health company that agreed to have one of their nurses give the 4 injections at our home. We were kinda nervous not to be at the hospital, but they did send a 2 pack of EpiPens in case he did end up having any reaction, which he didn't! Mikey's Brother is severely allergic to bee's and works as a tree trimmer and has been without EpiPens for quite some time because of the cost of them. So we felt blessed that we could pass those on to him. We fell in love with the nurse that came to our home. She was so sweet, but not the best Phlebotomist...

Sunday she had to take a blood sample. Mikey has nice great big veins and she couldn't get them to "cooperate". After poking him four times and really messing up his veins, she got some blood to collect. This didn't help his nerves and how terrified he was. He turned completely white and had to go lay down for a bit. When he came back it was time for his first injection. They do the dosage by weight and you can only inject so much in one area. So he really ended up getting 3 injections! One in each shoulder and one in the stomach. Oh the poor guy! It was no fun! We had dropped our boys off at their Grandma and Papa Ferguson's so the house could be little quieter,  after we had finished with all the paperwork we went and picked them up. I was surprised that Mikey felt good enough to go with me. He really was feeling fine until about 4 hours later. Then started the bone aches and major joint pain. The side effects that are common to feel is headache, nausea, trouble sleeping, and joint and bone pain. That night was a hard one for him. His lower back was very sore, even sore to the touch. 

Monday, she arrived and just took vitals, documented his symptoms, and gave the injections. His pain was pretty bad, he didn't make it to school that day, and just felt crummy all day like he had the flu.

Tuesday, same thing vitals, documented his symptoms, and gave the injections. Again he felt too crummy to go to school. The pain seemed to be getting worse, which means that the medication is working (taking the bone marrow out of the bones and bringing it into the bloodstream). His shoulders are hurting, and his lower back, knees, and ribs even hurt to the touch. He also has had a major headache all day.

Wednesday (Today), The nurse arrived at 11:00 because our flight leaves at 3:00 today, usually she has come at 7:00 or so at night so there isn't going to be as much time between the injections. I'm hoping that this doesn't cause him any extra pain especially on the flight. Sitting is really hard for him, his hips seem to ache more when he is sitting. It isn't that long of a flight, but I know it's going to be rough on him. The nurse took his vitals, documented his symptoms, and gave him his 3 injections. He's almost done with them!

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