A week ago, I wrote about Ginger going to Purdue Veterinary Hospital for a fresh look at her medical issues and treatment plan. I also got a go-ahead to take testosterone from my medical insurance provider. It has been a couple of months since my endocrinologist said that testosterone should be added to the levothyroxine medication I am already taking.

I assured my insurance company that I wasn’t requesting testosterone for body-building. That didn’t work. Therefore, I contacted my insurance company’s supervisor, who has helped me many times for several years. She is very caring and made it possible to have the insurance company expedite granting me the testosterone. She promised me I’d have the testosterone on Monday morning at my pharmacy.

I was excited. Finally, this would end my being tired all the time for months. I could fall asleep at any time during the day and wake up an hour later. I rushed to my pharmacy on Monday morning. There it was, as she promised.

As I left the pharmacy, I tore open the bag to take a pill before getting home. My excitement about the new medicine was like when I told Ginger I would give her a treat. Neither of us could wait.

Finally, I won’t run around tired all the time.

As I left the pharmacy, I tore open the bag to take a pill before getting home. My excitement about the new medicine was like when I told Ginger I would give her a treat. Neither of us could wait.

However, all that was in the bag were two small boxes. That seemed odd. I am used to all my pills in plastic containers. I opened each box and found a small vial containing 200 ml of testosterone. As it turned out, I needed to administer a shot that day and another two weeks from then.

I was surprised, but I give myself a Dupixent shot every other week and give Ginger a B-12 shot weekly. An injection of testosterone would be a snap. However, to be on the safe side, I Googled testosterone shot. I am glad I did because I discovered the shot had to be given intramuscularly (IM). The testosterone needed to be injected into the muscle in my upper arm or thigh muscle. Okay. I can do that.

I read on to discover that I needed a syringe and two needles. Testosterone is a clear, thick fluid. I had to use the syringe with a large needle to withdraw the thick fluid from the vial. Once I had done that, I removed the large needle and replaced it with a much smaller one. Sticking a large needle into a muscle would have been a bit painful. In two weeks, I’ll repeat the procedure.

I got the testosterone into my thigh muscle with the smaller needle. I was successful. Then what happened?

Nothing, as in nothing. I thought I would feel better after the shot. While I had hoped for an instantaneous euphoric high, I felt nothing. Later that day, I was still tired. Additionally, my body hadn’t begun building body mass.

I’m not there yet.

So, I Googled again to determine how long it took to get 200 ml of testosterone into my system before I could notice any improvement. Apparently, it will take at least a week or two before feeling any real benefit from the testosterone.

While I wait for the testosterone to kick in, it will allow me time to improve my patience, which is not a virtue of mine. I’m low on both testosterone and patience.