Pills, Thrills & (Non) Needle aches.

For those who are interested in what just maybe keeping The Mighty C alive and well, here are the possible candidates for my still being here.

*****Warning: This post may be a little bit anoraky!*****

Factor VIII & a ruler.

Firstly (and in no particular order,) is my current paraphernalia needed to treat myself for Haemophilia. This is one batch of Factor VIII @ 1000iu (above). I would use this 3 times (3000iu) for a "Bleed" and 2 times (2000iu) for prophilactic treatment (preventative). The top bottle contains the Factor VIII in powder form. It is mixed with 2.5ml of sterilized water (middle vial) which also doubles as the syringe. The lid is taken off the top of the bottle (top) and the water (with cap removed) with syringe (middle) is screwed onto the bottle, then whilst holding the two (now connected like a couple of slugs having mad passionate sex) the syringe is depressed using the clear plastic thing until some kind of seal breaks and then the plunger (bottom) is screwed & pushed all the way into the syringe, releasing the water into the bottle with the Factor VIII powder. This mixes in record time compared to when I was a child, when you would have to wait what seemed like ages for the stuff to "melt". (I shall do a retro version of the Factor VIII stuff I used when I was younger in another post)
So, the stuff has mixed and is ready to draw back into the syringe (middle). Holding the whole lot vertical, with the bottle at the top, the plunger is pulled down until the syringe has filled back up with the water now mixed with some very tasty Factor VIII. The bottle is then unscrewed from the syringe and chucked away. Now you are left with the glass syringe and plunger ready for injecting. But first one has to push any air out of the syringe as injecting vast amounts of air into ones tiny little vein can cause instant death and exploding eyeballs! Failing that, your hair will turn white over night! Needless to say, neither has happened to me yet;)

Butterfly Needle and ruler.....again.

Then the Butterfly needle (above) is screwed onto the tip of the syringe and a Tourniquet is pulled around my upper left arm until a small slug sized vein pops up ready for a good sharp prick! After swabbing the area with alcohol I pull my skin tight where my vein is bulging and place the needle with bevel up and roughly horizontal with my skin. Aiming the needle with the orange wings of the butterfly inbetween thumb & index finger of my right hand, I push the needle in about half way or more in line with the vein. I don't feel any pain as I have used this area so often that it is completely numb (no small pricks in my house!) Then the job is to pull the plunger gently back until the thin clear tube connecting the butterfly with the section attached to the syringe fills with dark, red, hot metallic blood:) Just enough to force any air in the needle, tube and syringe to find it's way to the top of the syringe by virtue of something called gravity. Then I begin to squeeze the plunger gently letting it travel at it's natural speed, as like with the air going into ones vein, if you force the Factor VIII in to your vein, your fingers will swell like ballons and individually seperate from your hand, each with a small but very powerful jet of blood & wasted Factor VIII propelling them across the room and up into the rafters with all the other fingers!
As I normally mix 2 bottles, I need to swap the empty syringe with the next one whilst the butterfly needle is still hanging out of my hungry vein. Then when all has been pulled & pushed & fed the needle is slowly pulled out in exactly the opposite direction to the way it went in. A bit of bog roll on the tiny needle hole for a few seconds is usually enough time for the hole to heal. (remember: Always dispose of your used needles in a safe and hygenic manor)
So, thats that. If you were to time me, the whole episode would take no more that 3-4 minutes. And this is all done standing bolt upright in my kitchen whilst listening to the radio:) From behind, I could be very much mistaken for someone attempting to make a sarnie;)

Next up is the Incredible Interferon Injection.

Hep C virus Interfering Interferon & that bloody ruler yet again!

This next set of paraphernalia is used for the treatment of my Hep C (above). I have already squirted 37 of these little beauties into my left & right Love handles:) Here is one I used earlier. As you can see, the needle is about 1cm long and as thin as an old man's pube! (thanks Dad for the sample). It has 180 micrograms of virus slaying maniacs swimming around inside the watery looking liquid:) The needle comes seperately in a box that contains four syringes and four needles and nothing else! Not even a swab. But I'm not bitter, as I have millions of swabs from my Factor VIII stuff. Oh, the things I have done with those acohol swabs over the years;) Another post maybe.

F*****g ruler!!!!!

Above is the box I told you about. Pretty isn't it:) See the way the shadow is cast by the light.......& the red of the plunger is just enough not to make one a little dizzy;) And the needles are so un-noticable they almost seem like they are part of the box:)

Pretty box front & RFH label.......and that F***............No Comment!

Anyway.....After getting the syringe etc out of the fridge and leaving it for several minutes to reach room temperateure, The needle is just pushed onto the glass syringe until you think it won't fall off! Then grabbing an inch of chub somewhere near my Love handles between thumb & index finger I insert the needle at a 45 degree angle all the way in. Not too hard as this can lead to someting called "A needle in the spinal column!" Then gently pushing the bright red plunger into the syringe, the Hep C Interfering Interferon Virus Slaying maniacs are released into my chubiness and eventually find their way around my body looking for a Hep C showdown.....Air et al! I let them get on with it. After pushing the plunger all the way down until it stops, I leave it there for about a minute just so the whole lot finds it's way in. Then I remove the syringe connected to the needle from my side, the opposite way to that it went in, with no sign of entry or exit at all. No leakage ever, nor any pain:) I number the side of the syringe in permanant marker with the number of injection it was and put it away in an empty Interferon box for some later artistic idea I have ready for them once I have finished.

So, lastly but not leastly are my pills, capsules & tablets for my HIV & Hep C treatments.

My breakfast and dinner;) & no ruler:)

Firstly, the large capsule at the top of the photo is to be taken with plenty of water and before a meal.....................Hang on! Sorry! That is actually the thing that all the little ones below it go into. I do apologize;)
I am so glad to see that P*****G ruler has taken a run and jump into the nearest sharps box;) Instead here in place of the ruler are a couple of coins. One is a five pence peice from the UK and the other is some foreign coin I found in my change the other day;)
First up are my Interferon tablets; Ribavirin, the 3 pinky ovals on the right. I take 3 of these 200mg tablets twice a day.
The little tiny circular orange tablet is Folic Acid. I take this 5mg tablet once a day. This was prescribed along with my Hep C tx for some reason.
The shiny large looking cream coloured capsule on the left is called Ritonavir and Is for my HIV. I take 2 of these 100mg capsules twice a day.
The 2 dark orange tablets above the blue one are called Saquinavir and is for my HIV. I take 2 of these 500mg tablets twice a day.
The pretty blue one is called Tenofovir and is for my HIV. I take 1 of these 300mg tablets once a day.
The little white tablet is called Aciclovir (Zovirax in tablet form) & is for the prevention of cold sores due to HIV. I take 2 of these 200mg tablets twice a day for preventing the onset of cold sores.
And the largish yellowy tablet on the left is called Sustiva (Efavirenz) and is for my HIV. I take 1 of these 600mg tablets once a day. I take my tablets at 08:27 & 20:27 every day, every week, every month, every year since 1987 without fail!

And that's that! All done and dusted, swallowed, injected and pricked! It's a doddle;)

Jason