Infusion #1

Well, it took a while to get it all organized, but I had my 1st infusion of alpha-1 antitrypsin last week. 

The nurse was great. She is teaching my husband how to give me the infusions. We don't have insurance, so it will help to not have to pay for the nurse's time.

So the infusions are intravenous (IV) and they happen in our home. The medication and all the supplies to make this happen come to our doorstep. The medicine has to be reconstituted. It is quite elaborate with all the alcohol wipes and the needles and bottles of medicine and bandages and such. At least it seems to be now. The nurse says it will get easier and quicker.

Side effects of the infusion were minimal. I was somewhat nauseated for 2 days. I also felt on the verge of tears for pretty much the whole week. I think that's because it is so weird to sit there while stuff is going into you through your blood, knowing that you have to do this every week for the rest of your life. A friend suggested that I think about how the medicine is going into me and fighting off the bad stuff in my lungs. Yah, good idea, but it didn't really work. I think I was in shock most of the 2 hours that the whole process took. It was all kinda overwhelming. I cried for a little while after the nurse and my father-in-law left.

My father-in-law is a retired physical therapist. He came to make sure the nurse knew what she was doing. He did a good job of it too. He stood right behind her the whole time. He asked her a bunch of smart-sounding questions using all the right 25-cent words. She was up for it. It didn't rattle her at all. 

I haven't really felt much difference in my breathing. I'm not sure what to expect. The alpha-1 antitrypsin is supposed to slow down the degradation process, so maybe I'm not supposed to feel different. Maybe I'm just not going to get worse. We'll see how it goes.