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An Itchy Situation
By Matt Cavallo
If you take anything away from this article, I hope it encourages you to be honest with your
caregivers
, even if it is embarrassing or inconvenient. Now that we know the takeaway, let me share with you my experience and the hard lesson that I had to learn.
I receive an infusion treatment for multiple sclerosis once every six months. Initially, these infusions were taking six to seven hours. At this appointment, I learned there was a change to the protocol, and they could now reduce the infusion time down to four hours. When I heard the news, I thought I hit the lottery. I was about to get almost half of my day back to do other things that I needed to do.
I was asked if I needed the IV Benadryl and I said no because I wanted to stay awake and get some work done. Plus, I had never had a reaction to this medication before. My nurse explained, as he was starting the drip, that I needed to let him know if I became itchy. I wasn’t worried about it because it was never an issue in the past.
When the medication started to seep into my veins, I started to get an itchy sensation in my arm pits and private area almost immediately. It was tolerable at first, so I thought nothing of it. I wasn’t going to call attention to this because I was saving two to three hours with this new protocol, and I didn’t want him to stop or slow down the IV drip.
As time ticked by, the itch became intolerable. I was unable concentrate on my work because all I could focus on was this itching sensation. It was so bad I also started to feel a burning sensation. Still, I didn’t want to call attention to this. I was on the fast track, and I didn’t want to derail the train. So instead, I asked my nurse if I could go to the bathroom.
When I got into the bathroom, I checked myself out in the mirror. I could see through the short sleeves of my t-shirt that my armpits were red and covered with mosquito bite-sized hives. I checked below the belt and the same true. Now, I was in a pickle. If I am honest with my nurse, it will surely slow down the infusion process and I will lose the time that I was planning on gaining. However, if I am not honest with my nurse, I could be in a lot more trouble if this allergic reaction becomes more severe.
I left the bathroom and went back to my infusion chair. I knew the right thing to do was to be honest. Even though it was embarrassing and inconvenient, I told my nurse the truth. He examined the hives and asked if I was feeling any allergic reaction in my throat. Luckily, I was not. He said if I was, then I would need to go to the emergency room.
Instead, he gave me the IV Benadryl. That knocked me out and when I awoke, the infusion was over and the itching was gone. I didn’t make my world record time, but it wasn’t the full six or seven hours that it had been in the past. I was lethargic from the Benadryl, so all my big, productive plans were put on hold.
Had I been honest, we could have got to the IV Benadryl much sooner and I could have saved myself a bad allergic reaction. I did learn a valuable lesson that day. Always listen to your body and be honest with your care team, even if it is embarrassing or inconvenient.