[blair77]

How long do you wait for treatment?

by blair77 on Thu Aug 08, 2013 3:16 pm

Hi,
My husband goes every Thursday for a Velcade shot and we typically stay a total of 3 hours for lab work and shot. Is this a normal amount of time or excessive? It seems like he is always the last one called back for his treatment???

[DallasGG]

Re: How long do you wait for treatment?

by DallasGG on Thu Aug 08, 2013 5:15 pm

I've only had 4 Velcade shots/appts so far and even with the lab work and talking to the doctor, I've never spent more than 90 minutes at the clinic. If I have to get just the Velcade shot, it's usually only 30-45 minutes. I'm guessing you're going to a clinic that is much busier than the one I go to. I go to a clinic that has 3-4 branches and the one I go to is never very busy. I did have to go to their main clinic once and it was much busier but I was still only there about 90 minutes but that included the lab work and doctor's appointment.

[dnalex]

Re: How long do you wait for treatment?

by dnalex on Fri Aug 09, 2013 1:23 am

My mom used to spend about 2.5-3 hours at the clinic every Monday for lab work and Velcade, etc. She says that she usually was the 2nd person called in, but lab results etc. takes a while.

[Covelo]

Re: How long do you wait for treatment?

by Covelo on Fri Aug 09, 2013 10:43 am

With Kaiser, I get my blood drawn the day before treatment -- 5 min from my house. The Velcade inj takes 45-60 min tops.

[Msmulberry]

Re: How long do you wait for treatment?

by Msmulberry on Sat Aug 10, 2013 11:41 am

I get blood work the day before and spend 15 mins tops for Velcade

[tropicdiver]

Re: How long do you wait for treatment?

by tropicdiver on Sun Aug 11, 2013 9:01 am

Normally about 90 or so minutes including blood draw, doctor visit and maintenance. Sometimes a bit longer if they are slammed with patients.

[morrow1022]

Re: How long do you wait for treatment?

by morrow1022 on Sun Aug 11, 2013 9:30 am

Even with blood work never took more then an hour,

[Muhanad Al-Nawas]

Re: How long do you wait for treatment?

by Muhanad Al-Nawas on Sun Aug 11, 2013 10:13 am

3-4 hours

[Nancy Shamanna]

Re: How long do you wait for treatment?

by Nancy Shamanna on Sun Aug 11, 2013 10:32 am

Hi Blair 77...Since the Velcade would not be given unless certain criteria were met, blood work has to be done before the infusion. It would depend on your cancer centre as to whether or not you could have the blood work done the day before the infusion, if that was even convenient for you in terms of getting back and forth to the treatment centre, or lab. They will be checking for low neutrophil counts, low red blood cell counts or other reasons that might cause them to delay the infusion. It also used to take me about three hours for the Velcade. I didn't want the inconvenience of coming twice to the cancer ctr. in two days at that time. The blood tests are done 'stat', i.e. on an urgent basis, but it still takes time to take the blood, send it to the lab, get the tests read, and then get the results back to the clinic! Hope that helps!

[Cathysharpe]

Re: How long do you wait for treatment?

by Cathysharpe on Sun Aug 11, 2013 10:55 am

Hi everyone,

I am on Velcade maintenance which means I take Velcade shots every second week. I usually have a 3-4 hour wait. If I get my blood done the day before, it helps a little., but still a 2-3 hour wait. I attend a busy clinic at our local hospital where staff are great, just extremely busy. I think most of the wait seems to be waiting for the Velcade to come from pharmacy. I am almost a 12 year survivor, and owe a great deal of being able to say that, to Velcade. It has helped me tremendously over the years. Best of luck to you all!