I was explaining to someone the other day that having the type of cancer that I have doesn't really hurt. That in itself is a bit of a dilemma, because cancer - specifically blood borne cancer - doesn't hurt, so you don't ever know to go to the doctor because your cancer hurts, you generally go for some other reason/reasons, or if lucky it is detected through some happenstantial circumstance. Unfortunately, most cancers don't really hurt which is part of the key problem of early detection or intervention - who knew?!?!? Sure, I may get winded now and then (much less now that my hemoglobin is increasing), but I don't experience any real pain pain on an ongoing basis (didn't in the beginning either). Not like a person hobbling around with a broken leg (not to mention their marathon of therapy), or folks with throbbing migraine headaches (inescapable until you ride them out), or those poor souls with back issues (and they are all too many - people and pains).
Since being diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, from the very beginning I have been poked with needles in various parts of the body more times than a person should experience (primarily arms, hands, tummy, and base of the spine - for the infamous bone-marrow biopsy). The majority of the time they are putting something in (as in the case of chemo) or taking something out (as in case of of regular and ongoing blood draws for labs). Though decidedly necessary, weekly blood draws for lab work are one of the procedures that I do find a bit ironic since me the guy with a blood disorder is giving up so much of the precious, or maybe compromised, blood that I already have - which my body works mightily to produce.
Frankly the only related injection discomfort that I have experienced has been the occasional result of a series of shots (recent inoculations - my Stem Cell Transplant prep wiped-out all of my childhood and adulthood immunizations; go figure). The injection itself doesn't hurt, but there tends to be what I call an After Shot/Shock, which creeps up and hits you about 24 hours after the needle has been withdrawn and disposed in that "sharps container" in the doctor's office.
Be that as it may, I never really had a fear of needles (my trick is I just look away and before you know it, it's over) and I still don't. They need to do it, and I need it done - so let's get on with it and get it over. You're gonna feel a little pinch - the standard apology that I appreciate but thankfully never really sense.
