IVIg

No better time to write about IVIG than during the 4hrs I sit here every 2nd weekend.

Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) is a human Blood product from plasma proteins. It takes several thousand donations pooled together to create the product. In Australia it is funded by and sorted with BloodSTAR.

To start IVIg one does a 5 day initiation which is not fun at all. One is at risk of meningitis which I got. I was saved by a cyclone closing down the clinic for a few days to give my body a rest. The headaches got….felt like my brain was beeping ripped out everytime I moved. I’ve had multiple brain surgeries where I never shed a tear - this made me sob and unable to talk.

Subsequent treatments I got headaches but they have abatated thankfully. I go in on weekends by choice as it’s much quieter and I get free parking (woo). Now it’s just a boring 4ish hours every fortnight. I mostly just get to sit in a recliner and once the needle in my chest is in it’s just regular blood pressure and temperature checks.

Me with my port accessed on my left chest.

This is where the port has become my best friend. It allows a far less painful way of getting “accessed” seeing I don’t have great or many accessible veins left. Best to save them for surgeries as needed. It still kinda hurts but it’s so fast and in a less sensitive area than the hand. It also allows me a lot more freedom vs being unable to move my hand much.

so this is where I sit now, waiting for the first prehydration fluids (normal saline) to go in so I can start the IVIg. It’s helped so I don’t crash out after any outing. I’m still tired a heap but I can go to a doctors and be awake that night rather than crash for 20hrs right after. Better fatigued and awake able to watch tv than no existing in the sleeping world.