Another blood draw

[Pinksmything]

My husband is going to start treatment this Sunday. He has an appointment to learn how to inject and all the paticulars.  He hasn't had a blood draw since his liver biopsy in July. They haven't mentioned that he would have another blood draw for his VL.  If they don't offer should we ask so we have a more accurate starting point?
The nurse said they will teach him with Placebo shots as he will start treatment on a Sunday night.  Is there a better place on the body to inject.  

Wow, it was tough getting through all the insurance red tape for coverage as we're told it's a specialty drug.  The good news it it's going to cost us much less than we anticipated.  Mail order is $260 for 3 months of tx.     :)   Janet

[desrt]

If your insurance is willing to pay or money is no object, sure, get the test. A good PCR is around $500 last time I checked. If it were me, I'd be just as happy with a 5 month old test for a baseline as a 5 day old one.

[jmjm530]

Hi Janet and welcome,

His last blood draw was fairly recent, but personally I'd ask for a blood draw sometime before his first injection for a closer reading. I had my blood drawn for viral load the day before my first injection.

Do you know if where the blood is to be drawn (lab or doctor's office) is open on Saturday or Sunday? You might check.

I mention this because once treatment starts, the blood draw for viral load tests should be  the day before the injection, or the day of the injection, but before the injection.

So...if your injection day is Sunday, that leaves just Saturday or Sunday to have the blood drawn.

For that reason, if the place where blood is to be drawn (lab or Dr.'s office) is not open on Saturday or Sunday, you might want to change the day of the injection.

As to injection sites, abdomen or thigh is preferred for self-injection, and the nurse should point out specifics, as well as hand you a chart or video. Injections sites should be rotated each week, so best to keep a journal with notations so you will remember where the last sequence of injections were. For example, I'd inject upper left abdomen, upper right abdomen, lower left, lower right, then repeat...etc, etc.

Well, all the best with treatment.

-- Jim

[FloridaMouse]

I would ask for one.  I had my 5 month post PCR drawn  September 24, and my VL was 111,000.  I just started round 2 of treatment last Tuesday.  My doc insisted on updated baselines when I started.  My November 27 PCR came back at 260,000.  So, if my VL can change that much in just 2 months, I would think that your husband's VL could have changed as well.  You don't necessarily have to have the results back before he starts, it would just be  good to know what the accurate baseline is before that 4 week PCR rolls around.

As far as shooting, I prefer to shoot in the tummy but I have to inject Humira every other week as well so I wind up alternating between thighs and tummy.

Good luck to both of you.

Mouse
P.S.  I had not problems having my second PCR covered by my insurance.

[FloridaMouse]

I have a chart for Interferon injection sites.  If you send me a private message with your email addy I'll be more than happy to email it to you.

Mouse

[jmjm530]

Here's a pretty good injection guide: http://www.janis7hepc.com/treatment_help.htm#h
(scroll down a bit)

Note that you do not inject along the waist line and not in (or around) the belly button. Also, if you use the thight, use the outer thigh per the illustration.

-- Jim

[Pinksmything]

Hey there, We went to the appt and the doctor ordered an updated test for VL.
Thanks for your feed back!  Janet