1st Provenge treatment tomorrow, do they put it any sailin to rerplace the cells drawn?

Well, my veins won't stand up for the IV needles so they put in a dialysis (their words, not mine) type catheter. I can already see the tegederm coming off after 3 days. Any Help with all the phases of provenge would be muchly appreciated

Quincy17, I am so sorry that you are here on HW but happy that you are proceeding with Provenge. I had four treatments, three pre-surgery and one post surgery. I was part of a very small study of 40 men back in 2010 that were recently Dx, committed to having surgery.

We are pretty much the same age with G9 and I send all the great karma I can your way. PepsiGuy was right one. You will be hooked up for 3+ hours and they do not replace any of the fluids. You will be in the chair until your entire blood runs through the sorting machine twice. The final product of your white blood cells will surprise you and how small it really is. I am not good at knowing metrics or gaging ounces, but it is reasonably small.

I went to the Red Cross for my Luekapherasis. I am confident that your center will be as professional as were the folks that worked with me. They will make you very comfortable, they will be right by your side the entire time. I would assume they will let you select a movie to watch (I loved watching Braveheart for my first visit). Find a movie that you love and it is long so you have a good distraction.

You will not be able to get up and go to the bathroom during the white blood cell extraction so they will ask you to go before you get situated in a very comfortable chair. i m not familiar with the type of catheter they are using but I had a needle in both arms and was not able to move either arm for the entire procedure. It is a little comical because of course when you can't move you get itches on your nose or face and can't do anything about it except ask one of the care givers to do it for you. They are amazing and you just have to suck up your pride and ask for help and they are so kind and compassionate.

After my first visit and following visits I was a little unsteady when I first stood up. They will watch you carefully, make sure you don't fall and then make sure you got food and hydration.

It really isn't bad at all. It sounds bad, but I was surprised that it went so well. You too will have a similar good experience. When i was doing my four treatments of giving the WBCs, there was usually another patient doing the same thing and we had at least three to five workers in our room taking good care of us, coordinating with Dendreon, etc.

I wish you the best and hope you get through it with flying colors. Feel free to reach out and email me if you would like my phone number and would like to visit.

Carl

Thanks guys, excellent advice. They installed the catheter a week ago Friday and it was a breeze. they didn't have to knock me out, just a touch of Fentanyl and an anti anxiety drug, so I was able to converse with them throughout the procedure. Pepsi guy, I've got claustrophobia so the idea of being shackled for 3 hrs wasn't one I wanted to contemplate. I'll bee kicking back with my iPad and writing to you guys during the apheresis and I think you are right, Lupron Jim, it should be the same thing as platelets except they'll be removing leukocytes. Dev, I'll take you up on the email and phone, I could sure use a buddy that's been there with such a great attitude . . . Q

Thanks Todd, didn't know about the blood heater. I've had enough killer hot flashes to last many moons. Right now my wife and I are kicking back at a Hilton a mile from the aporesis center, arrival time is 7:30 and the fun and games begin at 8:00.
What I'm looking for from Provenge is a 2-4 year extension,but I'll take whatever I get. I read that you're going the Zytiga rote now, I'll be watching your progress. Time for bed . . . good luck to all of you.