Wow. Rough night. A nurse came in around 9 pm to assist him back into bed. When she left our room, Lorne told me that his hand was really hurting where his IV line was. Within maybe 5 minutes it had become excruciating. This is the same place he'd been having IV's for the last 2 weeks with no issues at all. Well, to make a long story long, we had nurses and doctors in here for the next 2 or 3 hours trying to figure out what to do. They stuck him 5 or 6 times but could not get a vein. Then one of the nurses said that the main vein they'd been trying to hit had "broken". Meaning it was no longer a viable vein. They ended up accessing his port which a lot of people due from the get go anyway upon arrival, but Lorne hates having his port accessed and has been avoiding any discussion to do so. It's just a very uncomfortable thing and nobody with a port likes leaving them accessed for any length of time. But he was dehydrating and they couldn't give him pain meds and antibiotics without some line of access, so it came down to either accessing his port, and putting in a clavical catheter or "pic line". At least accessing the port didn't create another point of entry that didn't already exist so he went with that option.
It all turned out fine but the process of having someone sticking you over and over again when you are already in severe pain and trying not to toss your cookies is seriously un-fun! Not that we are here for fun, but we still want to avoid the majorly un-fun stuff if we can.
So the night was long and not very restful. You can't really sleep in here because every morning between 6:00 and 6:30 a lady with a mop bucket on wheels goes down the main hallway that all our rooms are off of and I swear it sounds like a jet plane is flying down the hall. I don't have a clue why it is so loud and I'm convinced they due it to wake our buts up early under the guise of sanitation! Well, they aren't fooling me!
I managed to get Lorne up and waling around today a little bit. He can't go very far or stay upright for more than 20 minutes or so, but Dr. Contreras has made it perfectly clear that walking is key! I already knew that but Lorne was not really on board with that plan until today. It takes a bit of logistical planning to get him up to walk. Between the IV's, trying to feed him and working it all in around his pain management schedule so that his walks are during his most pain-free times.
I went on an outing today looking for a certain kind of pillow for Lorne to sit on. Simone and I went to the Farmacia and to WalMart. Then we went to Starbucks. Then I went back to WalMart with Loretta for some sundries. I didn't get to the gym but I sure got in a heck of a lot of walking. And by "walking" I mean running when it comes to crossing the streets. You need to be able to get the lead out around here, the driving is pretty nuts.
It all turned out fine but the process of having someone sticking you over and over again when you are already in severe pain and trying not to toss your cookies is seriously un-fun! Not that we are here for fun, but we still want to avoid the majorly un-fun stuff if we can.
So the night was long and not very restful. You can't really sleep in here because every morning between 6:00 and 6:30 a lady with a mop bucket on wheels goes down the main hallway that all our rooms are off of and I swear it sounds like a jet plane is flying down the hall. I don't have a clue why it is so loud and I'm convinced they due it to wake our buts up early under the guise of sanitation! Well, they aren't fooling me!
I managed to get Lorne up and waling around today a little bit. He can't go very far or stay upright for more than 20 minutes or so, but Dr. Contreras has made it perfectly clear that walking is key! I already knew that but Lorne was not really on board with that plan until today. It takes a bit of logistical planning to get him up to walk. Between the IV's, trying to feed him and working it all in around his pain management schedule so that his walks are during his most pain-free times.
I went on an outing today looking for a certain kind of pillow for Lorne to sit on. Simone and I went to the Farmacia and to WalMart. Then we went to Starbucks. Then I went back to WalMart with Loretta for some sundries. I didn't get to the gym but I sure got in a heck of a lot of walking. And by "walking" I mean running when it comes to crossing the streets. You need to be able to get the lead out around here, the driving is pretty nuts.