~ The Impending Day ~

Mother's Day night I was restless. I was exhausted beyond words could describe yet I couldn't fall asleep. I think there's comes a point where our bodies are exhausted yet our minds continue to race and the two never seem to catch up with each other.

The following day would be my Benlysta infusion and my mind was wandering and wondering how my body would react to it. Would I be allergic? Would hives appear? Would my throat swell? Would I have chest pains? Would it be a transient reaction? http://www.benlysta.com/?google=e_&rotation=12014&banner=89743&kw=3600&gclid=COX7y6XulbcCFYFhMgodVCIAdA

To me, these were serious concerns since I have a history of allergic reactions and do carry an epipen.http://www.epipen.com/?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=epipen%20branded&utm_content=epipen&utm_term=b_epipen_exact&MTD=2&ENG=1&CPN=1

The infusion center my doctor refereed me to, Metro Infusion, http://www.metroinfusioncenter.com/, is located at one of the best hospitals in my area; Sherman Hospital: http://www.shermanhealth.com/.

The morning of my infusion, my stomach was in knots. I normally eat a good "fruitarian" breakfast, but I was afraid to eat anything so I only drank a 1/2 cup of coffee.

When I arrived at the infusion center I had to fill out a bunch of paper work. I was kind of surprised Metro Infusion didn't mail it to me prior to fill out. The actual area where the patients sit are a bunch of reclines, plasma TV's & grocery store magazines to keep you company. At my clinic, there are 8 chairs; which makes it a bit more intimate and relaxing rather than a big area with a ton of chairs and people lined up against the wall as I envisioned.

My nurse informed me that Benlysta is weight based and after the initial hook up my vitals would be done every 15 minutes. She was very informative and friendly; which took my mind of everything. She also was asking me about lupus and then I told her about being an advocate and how I was previously thought to have Multiple Myeloma and MS & the grueling tests that I had to go through for both of those. Before I knew it the IV was inserted and off we went...

I have to say, being worried is something that comes naturally to me and by now I should know that I shouldn't worry about things I have NO control over. I guess it's the fear of the "unknown" that always gets to me.

The infusion went fine. I didn't have a reaction at all. When you're done, you're literally done. Get unhooked and up & out of there you go!

I do think, however, that fatigue and more of a migraine played part of the side affect of the infusion; which hit a couple of hours later..

I'll be saying extra prayers that Benlysta works for me and for all of the other lupies out there that are using this infusion!