The dog, Griz, laid for 4 days without eating or drinking. Not possible to get the medicine in him but I told Dave I didn't think it was a good idea to force it down his throat. Dave forgot you should always listen to your mother. He waited until I went to bed and tried to pry open the dogs mouth and drop the pill in the back of his throat and force him to swallow. Griz did exactly what I thought he would do...he bit him. I would have bit him too if he tried to force medicine on me. Of course his finger got infected and he had to go to the ER for a shot and meds.
The hospital did what I thought they would do, they reported it to animal control. Animal control is not the humane society. They wanted to drag this old sick dog to the pound and put him in a cage for 10 days, most likely laying in his own vomit and diarrhea. I was grateful the Vet fought for us to keep him home since he was under his care. He just got his rabies shot in April. Rabies is their concern. I thought that's why you got the shot for you pet. These things never make sense to me.
Fast forward 2 weeks, Dave is healed and Griz might have beat the widow maker. He is eating and interested in his toys, although he is thin and his eyes still look sick. Only time will tell if he makes it once again. We haven't heard from animal control. It's not like the dog was running the streets and bit a stranger. He was forced into acting vile when Dave became desparate to save his life.
I hit bottom with the Humira. It was the worse time for the dog to get sick. I could barely take care of me without having to clean up after him and try getting medicine into him. Mostly for the past 2 weeks I stayed in bed with dog laying along side of the bed. Neither of us wanted to be alone but we also didn't want to be bothered with each other.
Once again the doctor was able to get the insurance company to send out my new meds yesterday. If this medicine works I'll be grateful but I will dread every shot I have to take. The package is over-kill. I don't know if they want to be different or if they think people are toddlers who need to be protected. The package reminds me of the over sized plastic bike you buy your toddler because he can't handle a real bike. The plunger is huge and hard to handle with bad hands. It is a double tube which makes it hard to see the medicine inside. The plunger doesn't want to move. Most of all the needle itself is double the size in thickness then the Enbrel needle. I would have to have the skin of a rhino to not notice the pain the huge needle causes. Then there is the volume. Enbrel was 40 mg...Humira was 50 mg...but Cimzia is 200 mg and I have to inject two needles each time. I injected yesterday morning and waited for the second shot until late last night. I could feel the pain of the needle before I got the package open.
I had a hard time going to sleep last night. For weeks I felt like I had a sleeping sickness. That's not uncommon to be extremely tired all the time with RA. But the Cimzia seems to have given me insomnia. At least I don't have to face the horse needle for 2 weeks. I won't think about it today!
I complained about the needle size on a Rheumatoid board. The one lady said she didn't see any difference in the needle size between Enbrel and Cimzia. All I can say is she must have thick skin! The difference is like using a regular sewing needle or an upholstery needle.
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| Cimzia.....Enbrel |
I hope I start feeling better this week. I'm sick of boxes packed all around my head. The holidays are soon here and I have nothing to keep me busy and no place to work. I'm going to have to put a push on the moving. While all this illness was taking place, Dave was changed in the middle of the week from second shift to first shift. You would think day work would be the best but not when it starts at 4: am and you have to get up at 2:am to leave by 3:am. The 10 hour day ends at 2:30 PM, giving you only a few hours to eat and get into bed by 7: PM...Dave is really suffering and his inner clock doesn't want to adjust.
Next Saturday is Family Day at Boeing. I hope I am allowed to take photo's. It will be nice to just get out of the house if I'm feeling okay.
