Week 4 from Baseline

My third visit to K Headquarters. This is a visit that came with take-away!

When I left K today I left heavier than when I walked in. In my possession, was a blue binded book that says 'dosing instructions' and 'dosing diary' on the cover. I also left with an dark blue thermal insulated cooler bag. Inside the bag were some gel cold packs, a box containing my next Adalimumab dose, and a sharps container.

The bag is soft so it can be collapsed and flattened really well. The zip is really sturdy yet doesn't appear oversized. It's lined with silver PVC materail and on the outside it has a pocket in the front. It looks a lot like this one. Usually, the syringes of Adalimumab goodness are stored in the fridge but when you are on the move and need to take your goodness with you, this is the tool for transport. Given how much time I am spending interstate on business lately, I expect to use it a lot.

I love this bag for other reasons. Lets be honest, it's not a medications transport device, it's an Esky. A couple of sausages, a small salad and some cutery, a summer's day and you're ready for a BBQ at your mates' place. I love it and I can't wait to put it into use. Strangely enough, it my CO who pointed out it was the perfect size for a six-pack.

But lets get to the details of the appointment.

My CO reported 'something' in my bloods from two weeks ago. I am a little deficient in a certain type of white blood cells called Neutrophils. Specifically, Neutrophils are used to fight bacteria infections, as opposed to viral or other infections. My CO tells me Adalimumab is not known to cause effects with these specific type of white blood cells so they are not concerned about it yet and suggest it may be a 'blip'.

I assume when my CO says 'blip', she is using medical terminology to explain that it is a deviation from the population of Neutrophils that is usually observed due to a currently unknown anomoly and it is likely that the circulatory system will be successful in its efforts to self-correct. Blip works for me.

The 5 pages of surveys reflected the green tick I gave yesterday.

The General came in to see me and told me a story about how he was in a conference and saw some study data of TFN blockers. The key speaker, whose name unfortunately I don't remember, was a Grand Poobah in the world of Arthritis research and it is obvious that The General holds this person in high esteem. That impressed me since I suggest that there are likely to be a few others that hold The General in such high esteem. The General confessed to dropping his jaw when he saw how remarkable the TNF blockers can be. He got quite excited when talking about it and I really do enjoy seeing the passion and love The General has for his vocation.

Flames came in to do my joint assessments. For the first time, there was no swelling in my right elbow. Given that I never actually knew my elbow was swollen prior to my baseline assessment, and given that I haven't had any complaint to make about my elbow, the news had no real consequence for me except knowing it wasn't there anymore.

Since I had jabbed myself twice on the right side of my tummy, this time, I jabbed myself on the left side. Since the sting I felt was the worse of the three shots I've had so far, I might stick to the right in future.

My next appointment is 8 weeks from baseline.