Saturday, February 20, 2016

For the Birds Again

The Redpolls left just ahead of the warm front that visited us.  Eighty pounds of thistle seed later they have deserted us.

It was a week.  One difficult situation after another.

I wish I was an Ostrich…don’t they bury their heads in the sand until everything is back to normal?
Far Guy said “Hey I am proud of you, you were stressed out but didn’t fall asleep on me.”

During the infusion this week I could push saline through his port but once the IV was hung (gravity flow) there wasn’t enough of a hole in the fibrous tissue that has grown over the end of the catheter in his vein to drip even one drop.  The drop just hung there  ready to drip but was held frozen in time. Once the protein is mixed it must be administered within three hours.  His port was accessed twice last week and has been properly cared for.  His body must be working overtime to cover up the foreign object that is in his body.  We ended up at the infusion center where of course they cannot hang outside meds…but they could do an IV for him ( and I administered the protein) while they tried to access his port, he had a dose of Cathflow( he has standing orders for that) anyways that sat in the catheter about two hours with no results.

The Surgeon will see him Monday.  We have a back up plan that may work. We will see. I guess I need to become IV Certified….not something I really want to do…but I can access a port now and I thought that would be a big deal too…and it isn’t when the  port works correctly.

He has had this Bard Port-a-cath since June of 2015 seven months plus with no problems. Going to surgery every seven months seems a bit scary to me.  Not only that but what are these clot busters doing to his body and or blood?  He had clot busters on January 4 and again February 18…every six weeks?  I am not a Doctor but there must be something wrong with this picture. 

Friday his computer was corrupted by some super virus.  HP is working on it, and luckily he had back upped his computer.   This computer was brand new December 15 2015…so it is only two months old.  Did you know that warranties are voided if you have a virus.  Me neither.  He runs Virus Software daily. Time will tell  if it is repaired or not.
Turkeys Feb 16 
Blog Signature

25 comments:

Cynthia said...

Ack! Difficult decisions and always scary when they have to do with health. Fingers crossed that the computer fix is successful.
We have been feeding a mad mob of goldfinches and watching the seed disappear like water. Who knew such busy little things could eat so much so fast! The other surprise has been bluebirds. Not at the feeders but everywhere, yard, along the roads, over the marshes. I've never seen so many. They have a favorite spot on the tops of a group of oaks along the old road where I walk the dogs and they look like Christmas ornaments up there -- that brilliant blue.

Country Gal said...

My goodness you both have a stressful time with all Far Guys health . I do hope all works out well for the pair of you and his computer can be fixed . Thanks for sharing , hope you have a good weekend .

DJan said...

That makes no sense to me that his port is already not working. And to have a computer virus like that, even when he does a scan every day? Makes me glad I have an Apple computer, which is much less virus prone. I hope both of these get worked out soon and everything gets back to normal. Thank God he had his computer backed up.

marlu said...

Good Grief! Hope all is "fixed" by now. I get an infusion every six weeks but not port. They just keep using small, rolling veins. I think they dread seeing me arrive.

marlu said...

I meant to say "no" port.

Anonymous said...

Sending healing thoughts to you both!

Patsy said...

Life can throw you a crave just anytime, You and Far Guy are doing
a good job of taking care of each other.

Mac n' Janet said...

You have had a rough week, hope it gets better.

Anonymous said...

I am so sorry that you have had all these medical problems lately. If you can become IV Certified it sounds like that would be a good idea. I suppose you would have to take classes or something like that? You two will be medical professionals one of these days with all that you have learned and do!

Shirley H.

Terry and Linda said...

When I get stressed all I want to do is sleep, also. My Dad used to say I was an Ostrich, my Grandmother said I only wanted to look at the world with rose colored glasses. I would like to ask: what is wrong with either ways of being? :)

Linda

Rita said...

Oh Crap! Pardon my french. Isn't that how it goes! You get used to one thing and then there's something else added on. Don't you hate when there's nothing you can do but pull up your big girl pants and soldier on? But--you shake it off and move forward. You will do whatever you have to--and, knowing you, you will learn how to do it damn well, too.

A virus can void your warranty!? No, I never heard of that before. Good grief! Like anyone decides to go out and get a computer virus--duh! I hope it gets cleaned out and is back in action soon.

The turkeys look happy, though. Big and active and ready for spring.
*love and hugs*

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

Oh my goodness- you are so brave, and so is FG! I could not do an iv...I can't even watch one. I am sending hugs and prayers that the docs can figure out what is going on. I'm sorry about his computer, too. I use microsoft essentials and mal-ware bytes and I am lucky so far not to get a virus. I do have the ad blocker add on for Chrome so that stops all those pesky pop ups, too. Blessings and I do hope that things will improve for both of you very soon!

Linda said...

Stay strong, you'll both get through this.

Primitive Stars said...

Wow, when will it stop??? Hope you both get back on track.Blessings Francine,

Granny Marigold said...

Sorry you had a week from hell. I hope next week will be better!

Anonymous said...

Sorry you had such a tough week. What a nice thing for FG to tell you he was proud of you, though, Goes a long way, doesn't it?mGood luck with the computer fix.

Jacqi Stevens said...

"Stressed out but didn't fall asleep"??? How could anyone fall asleep with all that going on?! And all that in only one week. Too much. Hope next week more than makes up for it!

Karen said...

Hope next week is a better one for you. Health worries are so stressful, I think you have done wonderfully well so far dealing with it all.

Paula said...

I am a new reader to your blog and I need to dig into the archives to see what you are dealing with! I am comfortable with ports and IV's (I'm a nurse) but cannot imagine what it must feel like for you! Yikes!! I wish you the best of luck. Love the picture of the birds! They do eat a lot! Hope you get the computer fixed soon. I hate computer problems!!

Tired Teacher said...

Problems always come in clusters. I hope you can get everything solved without too much effort.

Sam I Am...... said...

Boy oh boy, what a week you've had! I'm so sorry about the computer. I use Comodo...$139.00 a year with 24/7 technical support and they have been great. I have yet to have a problem. You only get what you pay for or so they say. I don't trust the cheap ones.
I hope Far Guy's "port" problems clear up or if you learn the iv methd than he wouldn't need a port? Or is the iv just for emergencies? HOw often does he have to have it done per week. If it's too often the iv probably wouldn't be good as his veins would collapse from over use? What do I know? I only play a doctor on t.v. I hope this week is better!

Nancy/BLissed-Out Grandma said...

It's amazing how much we can learn about various health issues when those issues visit themselves upon us! You do an awesome job of helping Far Guy, and clearly he appreciates it. Be sure to get some rest and relaxation for yourself, too.

Linda Reeder said...

Somehow turkeys seem to be the appropriate illustration for this post. I hope things get worked out.

Linda Reeder said...

Somehow turkeys seem to be the appropriate illustration for this post. I hope things get worked out.

Shirley said...

It's all very worrisome. I hope this next week is much better.