My Life as a Pincushion....Part 1

“Cheryl, we have scheduled the injection training session for Feb 10th.”

Excuse me? I need training? What on earth will I be doing that requires a full hour of training?

Can we say NAÏVE!

How did I expect the drugs to get into my system?? Slow release pill form? Or how about powder scooped into one of the protein shakes I drink daily…. let’s just blend it in there!

Ever since Cole was misdiagnosed with a thyroid issue when he was 5 weeks, I have steered away from using the internet for any medical type research. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the “net” but a cough can be cancer and not just a cold if you’re not careful! So I didn’t do any research on the actual preparation for invitro……I know…..me, type A extraordinaire!!! Can you imagine?

Training day arrived and I was surprisingly calm. Maybe it was the yummy coffee in hand, the WinterPeg sun was finally shining…..or maybe Tim was distracting me by being his funny self. Whatever it was, the feeling quickly subsided once the nurse brought in all the viles and pens of medication and then….the syringes and needles.

I could feel the sweat starting to build, my nurse must have sensed it too as she asked me if I was sweating??? Was it THAT obvious????

I was told to start 50units of Suprefact on Feb 16th, one injection per day, between 4-8pm. Per the medical dictionary, Suprefact is “A long-acting gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue which downregulates the pituitary-gonadal axis”

In everyday terms….it suppresses my ovarian function…..umm yeah, is that not my issue in the first place?? I now have to inject needles daily to make my lazy ovaries even lazier!

As I comforted myself in knowing I had 6 days to get used to the idea, the nurse politely dropped the Do-It-Yourself bomb…I had to do a “test” injection, right here in the meeting room, right now……not the kind of thing you spring on a gal like me…..

The process goes like this:

1. Swab the top of the vile with rubbing alcohol
2. Stick needle into the vile and draw 50 units
3. Swab area of skin on the belly….pinch an inch
4. Hold the syringe like you’re at the pub throwing darts (I kid you not that is the analogy she used!)
5. Hold at 90 degree angle, jab it into the stomach and release the meds.

I am generaly not a procrastinator so .......Breathe….3…2….1………jam!! Tim’s jaw dropped to the floor. I DID IT!!

While I am not running out to the university to register for nursing or med school, I felt proud of myself. Daily injections are just another step towards the end goal.

But was I ready for my belly to become a pincushion?


11 days later and I have to say my life as a pincushion has not been the most pleasant. I get a bit ancy at 5:55pm, just before I head upstairs to do the "deed". I have also discovered there are minimal places remaining on my stomach that I can stick a needle into... I bruise too quickly and sticking a needle through a bruise hurts......who knew??

So I have been alternating sides, to the right of the belly button, to the left and various places below. When I looked at my belly in the mirror today, an odd, yet familiar pattern appeared.....it kind of looks like this...



And again.....I smiled...