Day 20, I Get My Feeding Tube / May 26, 2017
First things first, I want to wish Kim a happy birthday. I am taking her away for a three day all inclusive stay on her birthday, but for some reason she said the hospital was not her idea of a five star resort. I will have to try harder next year, Lol. Seriously, she has been a trooper and has jumped in to caring for me and taking care of what needs to be taken care of without feeling cheated or upset. I can't say enough how lucky I am to have her.
Once I got to the hospital I started the pre-op procedures. I had to get an x-ray, get an IV started, answer a laundry list of questions and get ready for the surgery. As soon as I checked in at the pre-op desk I was immediately escorted to the back. I barely had time to say good bye to Kim, and wasn't able to talk to Jessie or Ryan at all.
Once I got to the back the first step was to start an IV for surgery. This is normally a challenge with my veins. Now I have added extreme weight loss, and veins that are badly damaged from the chemotherapy. I asked about using the port, but the anesthetist said she doesn't like using the port because if it gets damaged, it ruins my life line. I then spent the next forty five minutes with a team of four people trying to find an acceptable vein. My first nurse was excited she had found a good vein in my wrist and even shaved my arm to make it easier to access. As she was getting ready to start sticking, the charge nurse stopped her and sent her to lunch. She then looked at one of the other nurses and said, "I don't know what she was about to do, but there is no vein there". I thanked her for saving me. She laughed and said, "You've gone through enough, you don't need to be a pin cushion too". The charge nurse then hit a good vein on her first try. She told me that there will not be a second chance and to make sure the floor nurses treat it like gold.
After that was done, the anesthetist came to talk with me. She looked at me and said, "I looked at your records and you have nothing but problems getting an airway and with anesthesia. It was nice that she took the time to review my records rather than me having to try and explain that i have problems. After a long discussion she said she felt the problem is that I am over medicated when I am put under. With my sensitivity to drugs, it would only make since that I can't metabolize it and wake up. Her idea was to treat me like a pediatric patient, and slowly medicate me until I was under, but no more than necessary. I told her, just don't let me wake up during surgery! She assured me all would be okay.
Once the surgery was over, I was woken up out of the anesthesia. To my surprise I was still in the operating room and the person waking me up was an anesthetist. She had me up before I even hit recovery, and I felt good. I was able to talk and function. It was great having a surgery that didn't cause more problems from the recovery than the surgery.
Once we got moved to the hospital room I met my nurse. As I was being transferred from the transport bed to the bed in my room he wrapped my IV line all around my legs and under my body. He then wanted me to untangle myself, but I wasn't moving much with my new feeding tube. It was pretty sore. Kim ended up untangling me and as she did, he removed the IV fluid bag from the needle. When he did, he forgot to shut of the supple and water was pouring all over me from the IV. I was also shaking uncontrollably from the anesthesia. Kim asked him what he was doing and he just stopped and stared at her. She then asked for some blankets to warm me up and he again just stopped and looked at her. Kim finally asked, "Can you at least talk"? He looked again and said nothing. At this point the mama bear came out and she demanded he start explaining what he was doing. He pointed his finger at her and said, "He just got up here and I am trying to assess him. Once I know what is going on I will talk to you"! Well, I had three other people in the room who were equally offended by his words and actions. The charge nurse was called, and within five minutes we had a new nurse. The charge nurse apologized and our new nurse explained our first nurse is not known for having a bedside manner. Really, isn't that kind of important in nursing. The rest of the staff during our stay were great and we bonded with all of them.
On the last day Kim took a crash course in "Feeding Tube 101". The nurses made her set up my tube, flush it out and and do the feedings. She was so intimidated by it in the beginning. By the time we left the hospital she was a pro.
I am hoping this feeding tube is my saving grace. I will be able to get the required calories through the tube, but I still have to eat and drink by mouth to supplement it. To make this harder, when I was in surgery I had an airway put in as well as a scope and a camera put down my throat. My throat was sore before I had this procedure. My throat pain is unbearable right now. I just pray that it is temporary from the surgery and that it did not aggravate it so bad that it is the new norm. I am trying to adjust my pain meds until I can start swallowing again.
Once I got to the hospital I started the pre-op procedures. I had to get an x-ray, get an IV started, answer a laundry list of questions and get ready for the surgery. As soon as I checked in at the pre-op desk I was immediately escorted to the back. I barely had time to say good bye to Kim, and wasn't able to talk to Jessie or Ryan at all.
Once I got to the back the first step was to start an IV for surgery. This is normally a challenge with my veins. Now I have added extreme weight loss, and veins that are badly damaged from the chemotherapy. I asked about using the port, but the anesthetist said she doesn't like using the port because if it gets damaged, it ruins my life line. I then spent the next forty five minutes with a team of four people trying to find an acceptable vein. My first nurse was excited she had found a good vein in my wrist and even shaved my arm to make it easier to access. As she was getting ready to start sticking, the charge nurse stopped her and sent her to lunch. She then looked at one of the other nurses and said, "I don't know what she was about to do, but there is no vein there". I thanked her for saving me. She laughed and said, "You've gone through enough, you don't need to be a pin cushion too". The charge nurse then hit a good vein on her first try. She told me that there will not be a second chance and to make sure the floor nurses treat it like gold.
After that was done, the anesthetist came to talk with me. She looked at me and said, "I looked at your records and you have nothing but problems getting an airway and with anesthesia. It was nice that she took the time to review my records rather than me having to try and explain that i have problems. After a long discussion she said she felt the problem is that I am over medicated when I am put under. With my sensitivity to drugs, it would only make since that I can't metabolize it and wake up. Her idea was to treat me like a pediatric patient, and slowly medicate me until I was under, but no more than necessary. I told her, just don't let me wake up during surgery! She assured me all would be okay.
Once the surgery was over, I was woken up out of the anesthesia. To my surprise I was still in the operating room and the person waking me up was an anesthetist. She had me up before I even hit recovery, and I felt good. I was able to talk and function. It was great having a surgery that didn't cause more problems from the recovery than the surgery.
Once we got moved to the hospital room I met my nurse. As I was being transferred from the transport bed to the bed in my room he wrapped my IV line all around my legs and under my body. He then wanted me to untangle myself, but I wasn't moving much with my new feeding tube. It was pretty sore. Kim ended up untangling me and as she did, he removed the IV fluid bag from the needle. When he did, he forgot to shut of the supple and water was pouring all over me from the IV. I was also shaking uncontrollably from the anesthesia. Kim asked him what he was doing and he just stopped and stared at her. She then asked for some blankets to warm me up and he again just stopped and looked at her. Kim finally asked, "Can you at least talk"? He looked again and said nothing. At this point the mama bear came out and she demanded he start explaining what he was doing. He pointed his finger at her and said, "He just got up here and I am trying to assess him. Once I know what is going on I will talk to you"! Well, I had three other people in the room who were equally offended by his words and actions. The charge nurse was called, and within five minutes we had a new nurse. The charge nurse apologized and our new nurse explained our first nurse is not known for having a bedside manner. Really, isn't that kind of important in nursing. The rest of the staff during our stay were great and we bonded with all of them.
On the last day Kim took a crash course in "Feeding Tube 101". The nurses made her set up my tube, flush it out and and do the feedings. She was so intimidated by it in the beginning. By the time we left the hospital she was a pro.
I am hoping this feeding tube is my saving grace. I will be able to get the required calories through the tube, but I still have to eat and drink by mouth to supplement it. To make this harder, when I was in surgery I had an airway put in as well as a scope and a camera put down my throat. My throat was sore before I had this procedure. My throat pain is unbearable right now. I just pray that it is temporary from the surgery and that it did not aggravate it so bad that it is the new norm. I am trying to adjust my pain meds until I can start swallowing again.
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