The first day
It came in the mail yesterday, packaged to stay cold during shipment. When I got home from work, I put it in the refrigerator right away. I was nervous and excited to do my first injection that night. Unlike most evenings, I continued working in the evening on my computer while on my couch. At 10:30 p.m., I shut it down and went to the fridge to get my Dupixent with my husband - I asked him to be with me for moral support and because he's good at reading directions. It's a good thing I did! He noticed the medicine needed to sit at room temperature for at least 45 minutes first. Boo. No shot on the first night.
The second day (today)
After misreading almost every step in the FreshEats meal I cooked tonight, I ate dinner and then pulled out the Dupixent to let it warm to room temperature. 45 minutes passed, so I re-read the instructions and chose to inject my tummy (it is indeed as scary as it sounds!). I'm supposed to pinch a chunk of my skin from either my stomach or thigh and pull it out for the injection - how the heck would one do that on their upper thighs? I'm still chunky after having a baby seven months ago, but not to that point! On my tummy, however, I can pinch a ton of skin (AKA fat) out! Next, I disinfect the area with alcohol and blow on it so it's not wet. "Do not blow on it," my husband tells me, reading the instructions out loud. "Oh. But I don't want to do it when it's still wet, because it hurts more," I tell him. I know, because I did my own allergy shots weekly for years. "Let it air dry," he said, reading the instructions out loud again. He really knows how to read every detail!
Now I'm ready, but I get scared at the last second and ask my husband to sing to me. The needle is intimidating and big! He sings "Sings a Song of Sixpence" to me and I go for it. It's surprisingly hard to push the medicine down - even though the instructions warned me that would happen. I was holding the needle wrong with my small hands, because I couldn't put enough pressure on the top to push it down. So now my husband is both singing and pushing down the medicine with me. Then it's over! I feel no different, but know it's a big deal. My husband, on the other hand, is focused on how queasy he feels - he hates needles!
Imagining tomorrow
Will my back, arms and legs be clear when I wake up? Will my itchiness be gone? Will I wake up in the middle of the night needing to use my wooden back scratcher? Will I be able to pick out an outfit in the morning without considering if I'll be able to scratch or if blood will be obvious? Will my next shower not hurt? Will the blood stains on my sheets disappear? It'll probably take longer than a few hours for my skin to improve and my sheets won't miraculously clean themselves, but I'm still hopeful for a better tomorrow!