Operation: Venofer
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As per doctor’s orders, I am going to administer 5 doses of venofer to myself: 1 for the next 5 dialysis runs. Apparently my iron stores are low. My hemoglobin is 103 (or 10.3) which is not bad for me, but my iron stores are on a downward spiral, and if I don’t act fast with these venofer injections, my hemoglobin may begin to fall.
So, what’s venofer again? Below is some cut and paste from drugs.com:
Here is a picture of the vial:
So I draw it into my syringe while I’m setting up my dialysis machine:
I tape it to my dialysis machine’s movable/adjustable screen so that I’ll remember to use it!
Safety first! Gotta make sure to wipe the port before I stick my needle into the dialysis line to administer this stuff.
I only push 1cc of venofer per minute. If I push the whole thing quickly/at once, it could drop my blood pressure…and I definitely do not want or need to drop my pressure while I’m doing home hemo!
I checked my blood pressure immediately after administering the venofer to make sure my blood pressure isn’t too low before I turn the lights off and go to bed. My BP is not low. Perhaps maybe a little high! Heart rate is good though. So I’ll continue to do this for the next little while until I’ve done my 5 doses…then I’ll wait for further instruction, probably after my next monthly blood work is brought in.
