INFUSION CONFUSION

"Are you here for an iron infusion? " asked a pleasant young nurse.

"No" I answered slowly, my motor still in first gear. How I wished I had stopped  a coffee on the way to this early appointment at Southlake Hospital.

"Oh," she rambled on. "You must be here as part of that experimental group."

"Actually no," I  replied. "I'm here for a treatment for my knee. I'm a patient of Doctor Thorne."

"Oh, you must have the wrong place. We don't do that kind of therapy here."

Before I could say another word, a fifty-something nurse stepped forward.

"You must be Michael. Come right this way and have a seat in any one of these chairs," she said, pointing to a bank of high backed recliners that reminded me of my chemo days.

As I took a seat, the older nurse called out to a colleague ensconced behind a high counter,

"This man is here for a Pamidronate infusion. Can you get that ready for me please."

For a moment I thought of a short order waitress calling to a cook for a  BLT.

"Michael," the fifties nurse explained. This procedure will take about 2 hours. You shouldn't have any trouble with the drug. It seldom has any side effects on patients. Here, just sign this consent form and we'll get started. And oh, here's a little bit of information about this drug that I'd like you to read."

May worsen asthma., may cause kidney problems, may raise the chance of a broken leg.

Yikes!

Rewind 8 days and my visit with Dr. Thorne.

"Pamidronate is a drug usually used for women with breast cancer. However, in your case, it will help strengthen the bones in your knee. It's rarely given for joint problems but I think it should help in your case. You'll be given three infusions about one month apart."

"But if this drug is supposed to work on my knee, why infuse the whole body?" I asked, just a bit confused.

"Don't worry," he replied. "It will find your knee. Please realize that this is an outlier sort of implementation of this drug. Try as you might, you won't find what we're doing here with Pamidronate on any medical web site."

Those words echoed in my head now as I reread the side effects of this 'wonder' drug.

Maybe the first nurse was right after all. Just maybe I am in the experimental group.

Only time will tell.