Jillian O B. - Health Update

Life update #7: 

Infusion day was supposed to be a quick one hour visit. However, my body had other plans and instead wanted me at the infusion center from 9:40 am to 1:40 pm. 

Everything started out normal. Port accessed? Check. Pre-meds? Check. After every med that I receive, the nurses have to flush my port, and draw back blood to make sure that the port is still accessing the vein to my heart. Fascinating, I know! 

Except... no blood. So they flushed it again. And again. About 4-5 times. Normally when they flush your port, you get this weird taste in your mouth because... science. Today? Nothing. Which, according to the nurses, was not a good sign. 

Cue the order for clot-busting meds. Round one: 20-minute wait. More flushing. Nothing. Round two: 90-minute wait. More flushing. Still nothing.

At this point, three different nurses came alongside to try and get this port online. They had me walk, lean forward, lie flat, turn on my side, raise my arms, turn my head and cough (interesting tactic), and even re-accessed my port. Still nothing. Two hours in and I hadn't even started chemo yet. 

Time to pivot with an IV infusion. Meanwhile, the nurses kept checking the port because apparently I'm not allowed to leave until it decides to cooperate.

Then... hallelujah, blood return! They switched my hydration back to the port.

Everything finished around 1:30, and all that was left was one final flush and blood draw.

And…..NOTHING.

At this point my nurse looked at me and said, "You are defying science because the science isn't sciencing. We get blood, then we don't. I haven't seen anything like this in years. I'm going to be thinking about this all day." And, honestly... samesies.

Well there you have it everyone. I’m a mess! I go back tomorrow for hydration, and if my port is still misbehaving, I'll need a scan to make sure the tubing is actually where it's supposed to be. So prayers for that! 

Today's side effect dry mouth, making swallowing difficult even with the extra hydration. Seriously?! 

Kudos to Ryan, who drove and planned to come for a one hour appointment, but instead got a front row seat to four hours of medical mystery theater. 

Introducing Dr. Bearpathi, a gift from Dylan and Peyton. He is named after my oncologist Dr. Bupathi. 😂