needle party... officially begun

The day did not start well.  Both the nurse and patient woke up feeling quite sick this morning.  We knew we had to go to the lesson so we sucked it up and got ourselves to the clinic.  The nurse at the clinic was great.  I do find some of the clinic staff to be far too positive and slightly unrealistic when discussing how one will feel during procedures and after receiving drugs.  This nurse set realistic expectations.  She admitted that she has given these needles to herself and they are not fun.  This for some reason made me feel good.  Here is a real person giving us real advice.  It felt good.

Nurse Andrew got to stick me for the first time at approximately ten thirty am this morning.  He was fabulous.  I surprised him by voicing that I wanted him to do a trial poke with the nurse there... he assumed I would chose to minimize the number of needles I would be receiving but I thought I would be less likely to question his technique later on if he proved himself at the clinic.  This strategy worked.

A few weeks back I read somewhere that you should decide on a post needle reward strategy... something to take the edge off.  This strategy should be consistent and preplanned.  I thought long and hard on what this reward would be... well not exactly...I bought the first season of Vampire Diaries.  Episode one... check.  Episode two will be watched shortly as I had my first real injection about an hour ago.

I am feeling pretty good right now.  I am actually quite proud of myself.  I, the woman who faints at needles, remained relaxed during and after the injection.  I feel like I am winning right now.  What am I winning, I am unsure.. but if feels good. 

Of course things would be significantly improved if we both didn't look slightly green at the moment.  We are well armed with Cold Fx, a ton of Gatorade and a stockpile of honey which is great when mixed with hot water and lemon.

Needle party, officially begun!

I debated posting a picture of our sharps container but thought this photo from the Vampire Diaries was far more pleasing to the eye (and the stomach)... via