[Magdalen] Status update

[Jay Weigel]

MediPorts, aka PortaCaths, are great things, but people are either good
with them or they are not. Period. I got quite good with them during my
time in home health...you develop a "feel" for exactly where to insert the
needle, and anyone who doesn't have that should be kept at bay, with swords
if necessary! (That was a direct quote from a patient of mine who is now,
as Precious Ramotswe would say, "late".) I also had a few little tricks I
used with some of my patients. One of them was very sensitive in the area
where hers was, and whether it was psychological or not, the trick I used
with her was to spray the area with Solarcaine a few minutes before
cleaning it and then inserting the needle. She swore it didn't hurt nearly
as much. You do whatever it takes to make your patient comfortable.

On Sat, Nov 15, 2014 at 5:45 PM, Jim Guthrie <jguthrie at pipeline.com> wrote:

> From: Susan Hagen
>
>> March.  In preparation, I had a Mediport installed yesterday, eliminating
>> the need to stick a needle in a vein each time.  And I got an iPad mini,
>> and loaded it up with Kindle books, Netflix, and some music.
>>
>
> The medi-port is really helpful. MSK attaches a bottle to it with 5400 mf
> Fluorouracil (226 ml) which pretty much empties by Sunday morning -- and
> Albert
> plays nurse and removes the bottle, shoots in a dose of saline and another
> syringe of Heparin to keep it clear and removes the needle from the
> Mediport.
> (He also injects me with the Lovenox every day).
>
> OTOH, the crew at Scranton Regional Hospital seemed to make a mess of the
> Mediport -- the area was all bruised after I was discharged, and the
> oncology treatment nurse asked who had been mangling it.
>
> I really think a key to all this is to stay positive and optimistic. When
> in the
> waiting area at MSK, there are lots of gloomy gusses and sad sacks, while
> the
> staff is absolutely cheery and friendly and optimistic at all times -- more
> cheerful than a crew at Disneyland (and you didn’t think that was possible!
> <g>). And I realize that some have been through a lot, and many have a
> negative
> prognosis, but I think one needs to guard against negativity.
>
> I can appreciate the laying in of a well-stocked Kindle, though I remain
> something of a Luddite -- bringing a stack of reading material (including
> the
> newspapers and book reviews and NY Times magazines I haven’t gotten to),
> plus a
> book -- so I keep busy in the waiting room, during chemo and on the 2 hour
> 45
> minute bus trip back and forth to NYC. We usually have breakfast with
> friends or
> former co-workers; last night we went to a Railway and Locomotive
> Historical
> Society meeting after treatment for an interesting program on new
> post-Sandy
> pump trains built for the NYC Subway system. We left Scranton on the 7:20
> AM
> bus, and were home by Midnight. The trip home goes much faster if I'm tired
> enough to fall asleep once the road smoothes out  around the Oranges.
>
> Best of luck with the chemo, Eleanor.
>
> Cheers,
> Jim Guthrie
>
>
>
> .
>