Ipi / Yervoy: Can anyone describe the infusion process and time?

Jenn gives a great description, more accurate than i can give. I would only add that before you do the infusion you will probably have to do bloodwork, then the doctor checks the results and examine you. So again you have to add in more time. And there is a chance that you might have side effects, which the blood work identifies – in my case i had to go off ipi because of this. So this can be a bit of a downer. There can be ups and downs. So best to approach it as jenn suggests, take your time, bring stuff to read, your ipad or videos, be prepared for delays – but then on the plus side you will get 90 minutes or more of quiet time (bring earphones in case the neighboring patient is watching the hospital tv and its noisy). Take it slow. Good luck, mark

You have tvs where you go Mark? That's kinda nice, although I imagine it would get annoying if you have to hear someone else's show you're not interested in. Where I go they have Kindle Fire tablets we can use if we want. I usually play on my phone most of the time.

To give an idea of how long my day is when I go for an infusion (I live an hour from the hospital, so that takes time): I get to the hospital an hour before my appointment with my oncologist to get blood drawn and so there is time for the lab to get results by the time I see my doc. Then I see my doc around the scheduled time, but sometimes there's a delay as usual with doc offices. Takes about 15 minutes with my onc if it's a basic visit and blood work is normal (longer if there are other things to discuss like new side effects or scan results). Then my infusion appointment is usually 30 minutes from the time I'm done seeing my doc. I go upstairs, check in with the infusion clinic, wait for my infusion nurse to come get me.. usually wait about 15 minutes. Nurse comes and gets me, shows me to my chair, I get comfortable, pull out my kindle, my phone, my water, my lotion, and my chapstick (you get a bit of a routine after a while). Nurse gets set up to put in the IV line, gets that done, starts saline and she brings me a warm blanket and some tea (they have a snack bar and the nurses are pretty awesome about asking if I want anything). In around half an hour nurse comes back with my bag of magic liquid, hooks it up, and the infusion begins. Once infusion is over, they flush for a couple of minutes with saline again. Then, it's all done, IV is taken out, and I am on my way home. When I was doing Ipi alone, my day at the hospital was around 5 hours, but sometimes longer with delays. 

I totally understand wanting to know what to expect when starting this process, I was nervous and had no clue what to expect when I started, having a detailed idea of what to expect would have helped ease some of my anxiety at the time.