Tuesday (Day 5).

March 2, 2010.
Altoona Hospital.

I have the worst veins in the world. It's a very rare day when someone can get an IV in my arm the first time. What makes my veins so hard? My veins are thin/tiny, so it's hard for the needle and the catheter to be inserted. Also, I have a blood clot in my right axillary region, so my entire right arm is off limits to IV's, blood drawls, and even blood pressure readings. My veins are so bad that even when an iv is placed in my arm, it usually will infiltrate and the vein will blow (which is very painful) within a maximum o' 2 or 3 days.

IV #2 --in my left upper arm...infiltrated.

IV #3 -- Inside o' left arm/elbow.

IV #3 --elbow bend o' left arm.
Attempt o' IV#4 -- Left Hand down on my wrist.
Attempt o' IV #5 -- On top o' left hand (you can't really see it though.
Attempt o' IV #6 -- on knuckle o' left thumb.

"This is my scared/hurting face!"

Attempt o' IV #7...it blew real bad.

Donald, IV tech, 3 attempts.

Dr. Bou Saaffe realized that getting an regular IV in my arm was impossible. So he wrote an order for a central line. My nurse, Bekah got everything all set up and then told us that the anesthesiologist had been paged, and that he'd be up soon.

Everything you need for a CVC.

Ace just holding me as we continued to wait for the anesthesiologist to arrive to place the CVC.

Can you tell I am scared?

We were then told that the anesthesiologist would be running late, so instead o' letting the butterflies fly around in my stomach while I just laid there, we decided to take random pictures. It kinda worked...taking my mind off what was going to happening.

My Mirror.

Mirror with Crooked Angle.

Oh, the anticipation was killing me.
How much longer will I be able to hold it in?

This is my "scared" face!!

YEAH...he's on his way.

The Central Venous Catheter (CVC) is a procedure where a catheter is placed into a neck vein and threaded down the vein till it gets to the vein (superior vena cava) in the heart. Regular IV's are only good for a few days, where the CVC can be left in long term. The CVC also has three lumens (or leads) used for injecting medication, infusing iv fluids and antibiotics, administering TPN, and it can even be used to collect blood so I don't have to be stuck by a needle for my blood work. The anesthesiologist used three sutures to prevent the CVC from sliding out o' place or causing irritation.

My CVC in the jugular.

All done! Isn't it pretty?

So here is my anesthesiologist with my nurse (Bekah). Oh was this a catastrophe! He laid me down with my feet higher than my head. They suited me all up, put a drape over my face that had a window to look out. Dr. Van Riper, the anesthesiologist, said, "Ok, you are going to feel a li'l pinch!" I felt a huge pinch and then looked out the sheild window to watch the doctor shoving the catheter and pushing it down thru. Let me tell you that I honestly don't think that they gave me any pain medication to numb the sight b/c normally you feel a li'l prick, then there's a slight pause (for the medication to do it's job and numb the site) and then they shove the tube down. Well, there was no pause or anything...it was straight up hard core, agony.

So then I wanted to hold Ace's hand during the procedure, but they kicked him out. So Bekah started to hold my hand, then the doctor said,"I need *insert important medical word here* STAT!" So Bekah was ran out o' the room. Well a few seconds later another one o' my favorite nurses, Ashley stopped in to hold my hand. Within 5 minutes the doctor looked up to Ashley and said, "I need you to open this kit, please." So again I was left "handless"... ): When they were done with the procedure, they were able to give me some medication for the pain.

My Anesthesiologist, Me, & my Nurse.

Dr. Daniel Van Riper
My Anesthesiologist.

Happy it's all done...I love this guy!!


After the long CVC procedure, I wanted a snack. What could be a better snack to make me feel all better than a nice HOT hot HOT cup o' Beef Broth. Yummy...this right here=DELIGHTFUL!
A cup o' delightfulness.

CROHN'S UPDATE:

As o' right now, they are continuing to treat my Crohn's Disease with steriods. They are still unsure about the possible C-diff infection. The steriods will make the C-diff worse; however, they can't diagnose the c-diff w/o a sample. Since they can't seem to get a sample, they are just treating me for the c-diff until they can get a for sure diagnosis. Monday a.m. was a really good day for me, but as the evening progressed, things got worse. By this a.m. my stomach was distended considerably and the pain was much worse.

It's now bed time, and the pain from my CVC is awful. The medication they gave me after the procedure barely touched it!! Also, when the doctor put the clear bandage over top, it locked my head in a "chin-down" position. So then I couldn't raise my head or move it around with out it pulling. So they called the IV man...Donald.

(This is Donald!)

Well, Donald stopped by to fix the clear bandage on the top. In order to fix it, he had to pull the clear bandage off o' my already sore and reddened skin. Once it was off, Donald cleaned the area with alcohol and peroxide solution (which burned like falling off a cliff, but in the nick o' time snatching a hot curling iron branch...and hanging onto it for your life as it seers your fingers, hands, etc...). When he reapplied the bandage, he had my stick my chin up in the air and turn my head to the left. That way I could actually move my head/neck around. So, he finished it all up, and vuala! It was just going to be a LONG night.

And that is the end o' Tuesday!

THE END!!!