My Alzheimer's Journey

Part 17 - My First Infusion

After a night where I slept only a few hours, we arrived at Duke Specialty Infusion Center at about 1:45 this afternoon. Check-in was quick and efficient. A nurse was waiting to take my vitals. My blood pressure was high. No surprise to me - I was very anxious.

I learned that the lecanemab dosage is determined by the patient’s weight. It is good I have been backing off my donut and ice cream habit lately. Otherwise, I may have been given more lecanemab than I really needed.

A different nurse escorted us into the infusion room. By 2:00, I had an IV Port in my left wrist. We waited about thirty minutes for the pharmacy to prepare my lecanemab IV.

At 2:30, I was being infused.

The infusion center has snacks, water, coffee, and tea. At some point, I got hungry. A nurse brought me a couple of snacks. One snack was Teddy Grahams. They were not as good a Krispy Kreme donut, but they sure hit the spot at that moment.

It took an hour for the medication to be infused. Totally, painless process.

After the infusion was complete, we had to wait three hours before leaving. I was carefully monitored for side effects. I had been warned that extreme chills and a severe headache were the most common infusion side effects.

Amazingly, I only had a mild headache and a slight chill. Frankly, I was a little disappointed I did not have extreme chills. The nurse told me they have warmed blankets to wrap patients in. A nice warm blanket sounds about as good as a HOT Krispy Kreme donut.

As always, every nurse at Duke Health was professional, compassionate, kind, and accommodating. Linda and I are so happy that we made the sacrifice to move to Chapel Hill so I can be treated at Duke.

Thank you to everyone who reached out today to express their best wishes for a successful first infusion. The thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated.