We made it to the Domitilla Building at the Mayo St. Mary’s Campus by 5:45 AM yesterday for the first daratumumab treatment.  The receptionist told us we were “early,” a sentiment with which David and I completely agreed.  Chelsea, my nurse, took me back to my hospital room at 6 AM and outfitted me with a lovely IV to wear for the rest of the day.  Pre-infusion meds were methylprednisone, Tylenol, and Benadryl.  Not too exciting.  Chelsea started the infusion very slowly and gradually increased it over the course of the day.  When she first increased the meds, I had a bit of an allergic reaction–like the immediate onset of a very bad cold, complete with lots of coughing, sneezing, stuffy nose, itchy mouth.  Chelsea gave me another Benadryl, I had a nice long snooze, and all was well when I finally woke up.  We loved Chelsea and will see her two more times on our early mornings, at least for the next six weeks or so.

David hung out with me at the hospital for a while, then tended to Olive, who was not pleased about being in her crate.  He brought me a hamburger for lunch, then I fell asleep again.

Shift change at 2:30 PM brought me a new nurse–Mel–also delightful.  We finished off the infusion at 5 PM, David picked me up, we hit the 24/7 Mayo pharmacy for meds, then headed back to Apartment 205 after a long D-Day.

Today I am feeling fine, just very sleepy, which suits Olive fine, since she is always up for a napping buddy.  I’m taking an antibiotic, which I’ll take throughout all the infusions, plus a dose of steroids for two days after each infusion.

Weather’s nice, baby ducks and baby geese are being hatched and raised in the park next door, Olive has many areas to sniff and walk, David is getting a bike on Thursday.  All’s well.