Today I had my first shot of Aranesp, which is supposed to help me start feeling more energetic and less like a limp dishrag. I really hope it helps. I’m so tired of being tired all the time. I get home from work, eager to spend time with my Beloved Husband, and yet I’m too wiped out to do more than get in my chair and fall asleep. Not very good company for the man who loves me so much, I’m afraid.
Just getting this first shot has been a long journey. The doctor prescribed it for me shortly before Hurricane Ike struck. By the time the insurance company approved it and the pharmacy was ready to send it out, the hurricane had come and gone and we were listed as an “undeliverable area” by FedEx. The medication must be kept chilled, and they wouldn’t deliver it to the house until the area was deemed safe. Then there was the long confusion about getting the shot itself – it requires that my hemoglobin be tested before each shot, and the doc must sign off on it being medically necessary, before they can “stick” me.
But we got all the wires uncrossed, I made my way to work with a small styro ice chest with two chill packs and one injection, and then got a fellow teacher to watch my kids for the last few minutes of the day so I could shoot out of the parking lot and beat the school buses onto the road.
According to Google Maps, it’s a 35-mile/50-minute drive from work to the doctor’s satellite office in Kingwood. The staff tries to get out everything tidied up and be on their way of there by about 4:00 p.m., and my last students officially leave somewhere between 3:40 and 3:50. Hmm. And I drive a little red car that is likely to draw the attention of cops as I fly down the freeway trying to get to the office. Interesting equation, don’t you think? 
The journey’s been made, weigh in, pulse/bp, check the hemoglobin, stick me, and 3 minutes later I’m ready to face the outbound traffic to head for home (43-mile/59-minute drive). I fell asleep in the chair almost immediately, and now am listening to Glynn’s gentle snores as I write this in the middle of the night.
Here’s hoping the shot does its job!
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