Whenever Heather's counts were down she would have to get Neupogen shots. Neupogen is a drug that stimulates the formation of blood cells. It is similar to a natural substance in the body called human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF). It helps the bone marrow to recover it's ability to produce white blood cells after a bone marrow transplant, or after bone marrow-suppressing drug therapy such as cancer chemotherapy. It can help patients who have rejection or a delayed response to bone marrow transplants.
Giving Heather Neupogen injections was a family event when we had to do it. Dad would hold her legs & arms as best he could while Mom gave her the shot. Big brother & big sister would sit next to her or very close to her, speaking words of encouragement to her. We all wanted to make it as painless & as quick as possible.
Here is a picture of some of the syringes with needles in the tips, & some needles with covers on them. All of these were Neupogen shots Heather took. These are not all of the Neupogen shots she received over her 22 month battle. What you see here are 62 needles with tip covers on them & 35 syringes with needles & tip covers. Normally, we would save the needles &/or syringes & dispose of them properly at the hospital, after she was strong enough to stop taking the shots.
Like the Beads of Courage, our hope is that this picture will give people an idea of one more area in the life of a child cancer patient. Sadly, there is no bead to represent every neupogen shot Heather had to endure.