Three!
When I first started in November, it was daunting to think that I had 20 of them in front of me, and now I can't believe I'm almost done.
The infusions appear to be doing their job, since I've got neutrophils again, and a normal white blood cell count. That means the IVIG is giving my autoantibody something else to attack instead of my neutrophils. Hopefully it will do the same thing for the baby's platelets. Only time will tell, but I'm thinking positive thoughts in that manner. And Lucy turned out fine after all, so I'm just trying to keep that in mind.
Nothing has really changed since November except for I've learned a lot more about veins and what makes them easy and not so easy to access.
I'm the biggest wuss bag when it comes to anything needles, and I don't know if you guys recall but I had a major panic attack in the parking lot on my very first day.
So I was super relieved to see that the IV's used in the infusion center are not much bigger than the butterfly needle they usually draw blood from me with.
Around mid-December, though, even he was having trouble finding a good vein in my arm and was having to resort to using the hand. Which sucks.
I was so confused, because I drink a ton of water and I haven't gained too much weight this pregnancy, so I didn't understand why all of a sudden it was taking so much effort just to start an IV.
I started to feel bad for some of the other nurses, too. My regular guy, Martin, seemed to be the only one that could start an IV on me, which made me nervous because he was transferring to another facility mid-January.
One nurse would attempt to start an IV on me, and after going through two needles during failed attempts, they would call Martin over and he would get my line started with minimal effort.
Finally, one day around Christmas I asked him if there was anything I could do to make it easier to access my veins, since I was getting sick of being stuck in the hand and I REALLY didn't want a picc line.
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| Things got kind of festive around the holidays ; ) |
He said to drink a lot of water the day before, to not drink coffee the morning of and to make sure I'm warm when I get there.
Well, I was one for three. I always have my one cup of coffee of the day in the morning, and since I'm pregnant, I'm hot all. the. time. so I'd been blasting my AC on the way to Kaiser.
He also said not to drink ice water on the way in, which I was also guilty of.
I kind of went a little overboard with trying to make myself warm on the way to the clinic after dropping Lucy off.
I was wearing Lucy's leg warmers on my arms, a long sleeve t-shirt over that and my maternity sweatshirt over that. I also started turning my car's heater on full blast. It was a serious sweat lodge in my car.
I'd say bundling up like an eskimo helped a little bit. Even with making sure I was warm and hydrated, it still takes a seasoned nurse to get a good arm vein.
This is how it's gone for the past month or so. I'll show up, the nurse who is assigned to me will barely look at my arms, look at my hands, apply the tourniquet, completely miss a hand vein and end up calling another nurse over, usually one of the guys who has been at the infusion clinic since it opened in 2008.
At first I felt really bad about this. I'd even clench my fists and show him/her where Martin would usually find a vein, while feeling crappy about being THAT patient who had a preferred nurse.
I just remembered how it felt to have customers ask for a certain barista to make their coffee, and not me, and didn't want to make anyone feel like that.
But after having someone stick in the needle, dig around for a bit IN MY ARM/HAND and unsuccessfully find the vein they thought they had found, I have no problem if they give up and get someone else.
I'm stepping on my soapbox for a moment.
I'm not a nurse, nor am I in the medical profession, but it was actually starting to drive me crazy when the lady who has been assigned to me a lot doesn't even try to find something in a place other than my hand, like the others. And a lot of the time she would miss the vein and call someone else over. A few weeks ago, she tried the hand, and couldn't hit the vein. I looked at my hand after I'd gone home, and based on where the needle stick was, she completely missed the vein that even I could see, because the hole was to the left of my vein.
My thing is, if you are working in an infusion clinic, you should be pro at starting IV's and at least make an effort to try and find a good vein before giving up. Because you work in an infusion clinic. Your job is to start IV's all day. But I digress.
After it being hit or miss that the nurses could find a vein in my arm, and resorting to my hand, I stopped wearing leg warmers on my arms and only half-blast my heater.
I was talking to one of the older nurses a few weeks ago about how frustrating it was to have crappy veins, and he explained that that's not necessarily it. He said it has to do with the swelling that my body is undergoing due to being pregnant, which pushes my veins down deeper.
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| Two weeks ago. Apparently the swelling isn't just in mah belly. |
Even one of the guys in the blood draw lab noticed how deep my veins have gone. It's always fun to have them point out to you that the two inch needle is all of the way in your arm and sticking straight out of said arm.
I think the weekly infusions have been really good for Lucy and I, too.
I've been getting four hours of down time in the chair to do what I please, while being forced to sit down and take it easy. I'll usually pack my laptop with some DVD's, my Nintendo DS and some magazines. I'll try to take a nap because Lucy usually naps while she's being babysat.
I say it's good for her, too, because she's getting time with someone other than me, and most of the time she's with friends who have kids her age, so she gets to have a playdate.
There are still tears when I leave her, but usually she stops crying about a minute after I leave. And she's always happy to see me when I get back.
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