Injections - Round 3

Sean had his third round of injections Monday morning. He is beginning to feel the bone pain we were told of; I’ve kept him on a four-hour schedule of alternating ibuprofen and acetaminophen but by Monday night the pain didn’t seem to be touched by the meds. I can only imagine how much worse it would be without them. I’m very thankful for the makers of Advil and Tylenol.

One more shot this morning and another when we check into the hospital Wednesday and he’ll be done with the injections. The side effects should subside 24 hours after the final injections and I am grateful there’s an end in sight.

Sean doesn’t handle medical anything especially well. He had to take a psychology course in college and the day they discussed drug use he nearly passed out. He couldn’t stand the thought of someone putting a needle in an arm for no medical purpose. In the delivery room when Michael was about to be born I heard, “Watch out for the father!” and the nurses started paying more attention to him than me. (He was just fine after some juice and a few crackers. Who isn’t?) And glory be, if anyone’s throwing up Sean better be miles away or he’ll be sympathy-hurling in seconds.

But he said thinking about Bonnie makes the pain worthwhile.

Our friend Bonnie needs a bone marrow transplant and three donors have been identified as a possible match. She should hear soon if one is a good enough match for the transplant process to begin. I know Sean would have donated without knowing the struggles Bonnie’s endured, but knowing what a transplant would mean to her whole family has made him determined to bear these aches and pains so his recipient has a shot at a longer life.

While I know Sean isn’t doing this for anything other than because he feels it’s the right thing to do I’ve been impressed with his determination to go through with it despite his disdain for needles and hospitals. The fact that he’s willing to do this for a complete stranger is not just amazing - it’s downright heroic.

Man, I picked a good one.