Tether up!

The last three times my IV abx were dispensed in one of these:


This time a man from the Infusion Co. came to the hospital and spent about 30 min. explaining how to use this:

 

They have it all programmed to what to dispense, over what length of time (drip speed!) and it has alarms if things aren't right. Wonder how much this baby is going to cost me?

It goes in this fanny pack, that I just carry on my left shoulder.

 

It opens up and the medicine bag gets velcroed into this compartment, like so...

 

You snap the "cassette" into here and press the appropriate buttons on the monitor and you're set to go. For 24 hrs in my case.

 

So I am tethered up for 24 hours. It goes to the bathroom with me. Makes getting dressed a little interesting. Sleeping is also more challenging because you don't want to be pulling on that tubing during the night in your sleep - especially with a freshly inserted port! You can't shower, so have to take other measures that leave you just not feeling as clean, IMO.

As for washing my hair, my husband surprised me and got an appt with my hairdresser for today. She will wash and style my hair and he already paid for it. Yahoo! What a treat! (Anyone else want my hairdressers number so they can gift me a hair wash??? JK)

I'm not using O2 while I'm hooked up to this. It's too confusing with the tubing! It's not such a must while I'm in my home and not doing anything exerting, anyhow. At night I usually wear it, but I can guarantee you that if I wake up at 2AM tangled in tubing I will not be up to the challenge of "righting things."

I am still very sore. I have to do the saline flush between hook-ups and on a pain level of 1-10, that would be about a 25. Hurts BAD! That 25 lasts for about an hour or two, then lets up to a 6-7 for the remainder of the 24 hrs., probably just because the port is so fresh and tender.

Did I tell you the nurse had never accessed a port before? She did it right, but the thing on top is supposed to snap down, kind of butterfly, but she didn't know that and covered it while it was up. So the home nurse who came yesterday is concerned it might puncture the bandage and bacteria will set in. GREAT! (She offered to redress the port and do it properly, but the way it hurts to touch that area, I told her I will take my chances.) So I put Saran over the whole thing to kind of add extra protection. (But it keeps getting bunched up from clothing.)


Well, I had better go see what I have to work with for clothes for today, especially with going to the hairdressers (no bra, no pj's!). As if my pickings weren't slim enough before this!

Praise: Megan's father is stable, following his heart surgery (see our prayer blog, Before His Throne)

Praise: I splept so much better in the recliner last night.