IVIG on hold

I have to say that the IVIG is providing some obvious benefit because my entire family has had a nasty tummy bug and I've been the primary care-giver for 4 vomitting loved-ones for the past 9 solid days without getting very sick myself! This is the sickest I've seen my husband in probably 15 years and is one miserable bug. That I've managed to all but completely avoid it is unheard of. I've been nausiated, achy, lack of appitite and running a fever around 100 (none of these things are really out of the ordinary for me), but I'm still on my feet and I haven't thrown up once, even though I've only had 3 solid nights of sleep in the entire span of family illness.

So I made it through 19 infusions before my body would have no more. I spent last Sunday in severe pain, feeling as though my arm was being held relentlessly against a hot stove. Thanks to 3 doses of benadryl (the second two via IV) I did not have breathing issues until the very end of my infusion, but the hives were out of control. It seems I'm now allergic to tegaderm (the clear bandaging that is used over PICC lines and IV lines) and we had to switch over to a secondary IV line mid-transfusion, remove the dressing on the IV, and then even in drug-induced sleep I was jerking awake violently, trying to get my arm away from the searing pain. I have open hives on my chest and they continue recurring on my arms, neck, face, and now on my feet as well. Under the bandaging where I've had my PICC for the past 4 months, my arms is just one raw, oozing mess.

Today we pulled the PICC line. My doctor is giving me a full month off from IVs, then we will try again mid-January and space them 2 weeks apart for each of the remaining 5, with hopes that my hystimine levels will settle down enough between now and then to be able to sucessfully complete the treatment. While I hate to stop them when it seems they were finally making a difference, I can't help to be incredibly relieved to have the PICC out and a break from the Sunday treatments. In just the 7 hours since the line was pulled and all dressing removed, my arm looks (and feels!) amazingly improved over even this morning (though it still makes my family gag to see it even in this speedily recovering state).

So at the moment, I don't have any other medical appointments or treatment scheduled until Jan. 17 when we resume infusions on a bi-weekly basis. What a wonderful Christmas blessing! Now if I can get my skin feeling better and keep from getting sick without the infusions, that will be fantastic.