First day on Humira

My package of Humira arrived on December 22nd, perfectly timed with my return from hitting the sloped in Mont Tremblant, Quebec. A Registered Nurse from VON was expected to arrive on Christmas Eve to show me how to administer the medication properly, and to answer any questions I had. I prepared my list of questions in anticipation and waited with bated breath.

I was not impressed with the nurse's skills, I'm afraid. I never told her that we were members of the same registered body, and I almost wished I had: the basic skill of proper hand hygiene was sorely lacking. Despite the nurse telling me that I should wash my hands before injecting myself, she failed to do so and then proceeded to manipulate the area on my abdomen that I had carefully swabbed with alcohol. I swabbed a second time the now-contaminated site, and she once again manipulated the area and then quickly injected me the with medication. I was warned by the pharmacy that the formula was very acidic and burned, but I was not prepared for the intensity with which it stung. Reflexively, I tensed my muscles tightly; the pain was unwavering. The nurse told me, as I watched drops of medicated fluid spill down my stomach (I counted the hundreds of dollars being wasted with every dribble), that my abdominal muscles were creating resistance and pushing the needle out of my body. I was not sure if that was the true cause for the wastage of my precious medication, or if she was not as competent as her professional title implied. I am sorry to be so harsh, but if you been there listening to her...watching her...you would have been shaking your head and wondering if she had ever given a subcutaneous injection before. When I asked her about the side effects, she told me to read the pamphlet that came with the drug; which is all well and good given my nursing background, but she did not know of my clinical expertise and should have explained the side effects instead of directing me to small-printed clinical-trial jargon. She also directed me to do searches on the internet. Geez...why didn't I think of that (sarcasm dripping down the screen so thick you can barely read my blog anymore).

On a more positive note, Progress contacted me to find out if the nurse had shown up to provide the instruction and to learn of my experience. I was not brutally honest about my experience with respect to providing all of the details, but I did share my disappointment with the lack of hand washing. Progress committed to following up with VON to have another nurse come on January 6th to provide my second dose and answer any outstanding questions. At this point, I am extremely impressed with the comprehensive case management of Progress; it has certainly eased any anxieties I had starting a new biologic.

Seven days hitting Whistler Blackcomb

It was time, finally, to hit the slopes: eleven days of ripping up powder in Whistler and Mont Tremblant. On December 7th, I ventured out to Whistler, British Columbia for seven days with four close friends. We arrived in Vancouver before 10am and drove the scenic Sea-to-Sky Highway to the Whistler Blackcomb resort. I spotted at least ten spectacular bald eagles resting on tree tops and soaring the bluebird sky as we made our way through Squamish.

Little did we know, but we would be present for the grand opening of the Peak to Peak Gondola that spans the 4.4km distance between the peaks of Whistler and Blackcomb mountains. The Guinness Book of World Records, along with hoards of media, descended on Whistler Village during the week prior to the Gondola's opening on December 12th--mainly because over three world records had been broken by this impressive engineering masterpiece.

I boarded on Blackcomb for two days and hit Whistler for three this week. Unfortunately, tearing up the snow for six hours every day took a toll on my lower back. I started flaring on my second night with terrible night sweats, stiffness, and back pain. I tried to suck it up and stick it out, but the stiffness worsened each day after that. By Thursday December 11th, I could barely stand up after strapping myself on my board. I had a noticeable difficult time walking...lifting each leg to propel me forward was met with significant stiffness and pain (the SI joint being the pivot point). Extra-strength Motrin took the edge off the pain a bit, but my mobility became progressively hindered. Needless to say, it's impossible for me to bend forward (friends help me don my socks and shoes/boots), and most mobilization requires some creative movements if I don't have friends nearby to assist. After five straight days of exploring the terrain on both mountains, I decided to give my body a break during my last two days here and enjoy the activities the Village offered: shopping, restaurants, apres, soaking in the hot-tub with friends and beer, and night life fun. I wanted to allow my body time to recover before leaving for Mont Tremblant on December 18th. With all of the snow Tremblant has experienced so far, I anticipated taking in some hardcore powder during my four day stay there.

The weather has been a bit wonky this week, with spring-like conditions at the base of the mountains, and a light foundation at the peak, resulting in the limited access to trails and runs on both summits and forcing every level of alpinist to share the track. There was a frustrating disorganized convergence of people from novice toddlers to professional racers. Everyone became either a target or an obstacle to avoid; I even overheard the mountain guides and safety patrol comment on the chaos. I was guilty of taking out a few people, and suffered the forceful impacts of others' uncontrolled speed. We relished the light dusting of snow on the peak on Tuesday and delighted on Friday when we awoke to the first snow gracing the Village (which meant that the peaks would have enough snow to conceal the icy 57cm snowbase for the morning crowd). Today was -25 degrees Celsius at the peak (with 57km/hr winds) and -12 degrees in the valley. The winds howled through the Village too. I was still struggling to mobilize my legs which forced me to walk slower than normal and endure the bone-chilling temperature. I was glad I was not on the peaks today. Instead, I spent the day shopping for snow-sport clothing, and the evening celebrating friendships over internationally-acclaimed fine dining at Araxi Restaurant and Lounge.

I'm LOVING the apres!!!