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Just a Walk in the Sahara
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Saturday, February 9, 2008
7:33:00 PM CST
The title is a slight twist from the adage "Just a walk in the park" as I think this trip has been the trip from hell for Sara.
She's retaining fluids to the point of being miserable. She told me today the pads of her fingers are peeling because she's so swollen. Her arms are swollen, red, and painful (that is beginning to subside, but it's been horrible). But here's the best part:
The other morning, a nurse, in a hurry, broke one of her pic lines. She has an IV Port that goes in near her collar bone. That line has been in since her surgery. It has been the best line she's ever had. It hasn't gotten infected or anything. It comes out & splits into two access ports. One line typically is used for meds & TPN & such, the other one is used for saline & blood access. The nurse was in a hurry and twisted the little hook-up mechanism off. We thought they'd have to do surgery to fix it. Ron & Sara were very pleased to find out there is a "fix kit" that the doctor used to repair it (that was after the doctor tried to cut the wrong line in the repair process - whew!).
Not so bad, right? HA! Then another doctor decided it was time to replace the line. True enough, a year is a very long time for one of these kinds of lines - but right now? So, they take her down to surgery, the doctor (not one of the transplant team, one from the anesthesiology department for the hospital) takes out the old line, and, uh, can't get a new one in. Sara's awake for the "procedure". The doctor is digging and pushing and prodding. Sara's wincing & moaning. The doctor gets ugly with Sara telling her to quit moving. Sara tells him it hurts. He doesn't care about all that - informing her that he's given her enough meds to drug a horse (uh, Sara's been doing this for 2 1/2 years, don't ya' think her tolerance levels might be a little higher than the average Joe?). The doctor can't get the line in. The longer he can't get the line in, the madder he gets. The madder he gets, the worse everything else gets. He starts cussing and throwing things - and apparently acting like a real butt-hole. He never did get a line in. Now they have to poke Sara every time they want or need to do something. That is not what Sara wants to hear - especially since her veins suck and they usually end up poking her a zillion times and still don't get whatever it was they were after.
Now, Sara has no easy access. True to Sara's nature, she's refused them a couple of times today. She's not a little 8 year old you can convince to "be brave", she's not a teenager who thinks they don't have a choice. She's sick and tired of being sick and tired - and unlike the addict, Sara really has no control over the situation. She can't "hit bottom" and start going to meetings to get better.
So, everyone's in a crappy mood but Lauren. She's working and going to school and avoiding her mother at all costs (I know, it's a teenager thing).
Sigh....this too shall pass...right?
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7:33:00 PM CST
Just a Walk in the Sahara
She's retaining fluids to the point of being miserable. She told me today the pads of her fingers are peeling because she's so swollen. Her arms are swollen, red, and painful (that is beginning to subside, but it's been horrible). But here's the best part:
The other morning, a nurse, in a hurry, broke one of her pic lines. She has an IV Port that goes in near her collar bone. That line has been in since her surgery. It has been the best line she's ever had. It hasn't gotten infected or anything. It comes out & splits into two access ports. One line typically is used for meds & TPN & such, the other one is used for saline & blood access. The nurse was in a hurry and twisted the little hook-up mechanism off. We thought they'd have to do surgery to fix it. Ron & Sara were very pleased to find out there is a "fix kit" that the doctor used to repair it (that was after the doctor tried to cut the wrong line in the repair process - whew!).
Not so bad, right? HA! Then another doctor decided it was time to replace the line. True enough, a year is a very long time for one of these kinds of lines - but right now? So, they take her down to surgery, the doctor (not one of the transplant team, one from the anesthesiology department for the hospital) takes out the old line, and, uh, can't get a new one in. Sara's awake for the "procedure". The doctor is digging and pushing and prodding. Sara's wincing & moaning. The doctor gets ugly with Sara telling her to quit moving. Sara tells him it hurts. He doesn't care about all that - informing her that he's given her enough meds to drug a horse (uh, Sara's been doing this for 2 1/2 years, don't ya' think her tolerance levels might be a little higher than the average Joe?). The doctor can't get the line in. The longer he can't get the line in, the madder he gets. The madder he gets, the worse everything else gets. He starts cussing and throwing things - and apparently acting like a real butt-hole. He never did get a line in. Now they have to poke Sara every time they want or need to do something. That is not what Sara wants to hear - especially since her veins suck and they usually end up poking her a zillion times and still don't get whatever it was they were after.
Now, Sara has no easy access. True to Sara's nature, she's refused them a couple of times today. She's not a little 8 year old you can convince to "be brave", she's not a teenager who thinks they don't have a choice. She's sick and tired of being sick and tired - and unlike the addict, Sara really has no control over the situation. She can't "hit bottom" and start going to meetings to get better.
So, everyone's in a crappy mood but Lauren. She's working and going to school and avoiding her mother at all costs (I know, it's a teenager thing).
Sigh....this too shall pass...right?
Written by butterieflie Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | digg this
