Punching the Frequent Transfusee Card

At this point , my platelets were hell bent on cliff diving, so I was being tested at least every other day. What’s OMP (One More Poke) when your arms are already one massive bruised war zone? There had been little effect, if any, from the Solumedrol infusions, so my team decided to put me on a 5 day infusion series of IVIG (intravenous immune globulin). One dose of IVIG is made from over 1,000 donors’ plasma that has had the immune globulin removed and made into a special serum of super concentrated antibodies. We learned that each infusion costs approximately $17,000, so my 5 days came to 85 cool G’s – thanks Blue Cross! On my last day of IVIG, I was HUAH (Hooked Up At Hoag) next to Fred, a 12 year veteran of IVIG infusions, and he has calculated his treatment cost to top $12 million! This stuff has worked miracles in many patients like Fred, so we were very hopeful. Alas, after completing the series, we saw no positive changes from IVIG. My platelets continued to plummet, so over the course of 10 days, I received 3 more platelet transfusions. And, just for fun, I received a 2 unit blood transfusion, because my red cells were hitting the skids as well. If I transfuse or infuse in the morning, we automatically make a stop on our way back down PCH at Bear Flag in Crystal Cove for their divine burritos. I am addicted. BIOTP (Blame It On The Prednisone)