Day 6

Lone Visitors--The Schroeders

Lyra, Andrea, Gabriel, and Lyra's mother all stopped by to visit me. B/c my immune system is severely compromised and the infection being so contagious, I'm in an isolation room w/isolation protocol. So Lyra came into my room but not before she put on the gorgeous gown, the gaudy gloves, and the mandatory matching mask. She was able to stay for a bit, then she left to go shopping.

Standing in the doorway so Andrea could say, "Hi Miss Jill."
Seeing Andrea really helped me cheer up.

Lyra brought me a present...JAWBUSTERS (oh and one piece o' bubble gum).

Thanks Lyra for stopping up to visit me. You made my day!
When I eat a "jawbreaker", I turn into The She-Hulk! Grr...

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$5...$5 Foot Long.

For supper, Ace bought a $5...$5 Foot Long. (You know like the song from the commercial that they sing.) He really loved the fact that Altoona Regional had a Subway in the main lobby. He'd eat one o' the 6" for lunch and the other half for supper.

Ace eating his Spicy Italian Foot Long.

Oh dear...what a lovely face.

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Central Venous Catheter (CVC) Insertion
Paul S. Schultz M.D. (Anesthesiologist)

My veins are a nurses/phlebotomists worst nightmare...they are super thin and/or nonexistent, plus all the scar tissue makes it difficult to get stuck. So every time I go in the hospital my veins get stuck, poked, prodded, and even infiltrate. So finally after trying for an hour one day, they called the doctor so he could write an order for a central line. Here is all the times they tried and missed.

Back o' my hand...they missed.

Forearm attempt...it was a No-Go.

Antecubital IV infiltrated terribly. Yes, that's blood leaking out too.

Antecubital bruising from all the trama.

The doctor gave the "ok" for the central line to be inserted. It was 8 p.m. in the evening, so the only person that could do the procedure was Dr. Schultz, he's an anesthesiologist. Then they put me in a gown as I gripped my LUCKY Irish shamrock blanket waiting for him to come up.

This is my "scared" face.

They sterilized the area with a translucent blue disinfectant solution. Pretty?

After the sterile area was created, my bed was tipped so my head was lower than my feet (Trendelenberg Position). Next he inserted the needle into my subclavian vein and threaded it (but he was actually shoving quite hard) down thru the vein till it reached the superior vena cava and the right atrium o' the heart. Then the needle was pulled out while the catheter stayed in the vein. He then stitched the catheter, attaching the port to my skin to prevent the catheter from advancing farther down or getting caught on something and pulling out.

Can you see the black thread that's stiched and anchored to my skin?

Phew...we did it!! Looks like we just need to be holding a baby in our hands.

We tried to clean up all my blue hulkiness from the site.

I called my mother to tell her everything went well.

My Wonderful Anesthesiologist
Paul S. Schultz M.D.

After the procedure was done, I told the doctor I wanted a picture o' him and me after I got cleaned up. He laughed (thinking I was joking) and said, "I have to go down to the ER right now."

I said, "Well, you better come back then so I can get a picture with you."

The nurses all there looked at him and told him, "And the funny thing is, you think she's kidding. She is totally serious! She will totally hunt you down and find you."

Needless to say, he came right back, confirmed it was placed correctly, put his arm around me, and got his picture taken with me. !

Dr. Paul S. Schultz
MY Anesthesiologist

The chest x-ray confirmed it's placement was correct. Now they will be able to run fluids, insert medicine, and/or even drawl blood from one o' the 3 different colored ports. So that saves me from getting stuck over and over again. My poor veins are super tired o' getting poked and prodded. So things are looking good...at least in the CVC, IV department o' things. As o' tonight, I have been in this room for one, long, whole, week!

THE END!!!