Discharge Day!

I'm just finishing up my last antibiotic right now.  Jake is on his way up and should be here in about an hour, so as soon as this med is done I will de-access my port and pack up all my stuff.  I don't think I've written about my port, so maybe I should explain that.  It's a small Rolo (the candy) looking thing that is surgically placed right under the skin.  Mine is in my chest (although there are numerous other places to place them).  There is a tube connected to it that runs up my neck and then down into my heart...well not quite my heart.  Each time I come in the hospital they insert a special needle (a "huber" needle) into it and I get my antibiotics through that.  While I'm here I get the needle and dressing changed once a week, and at home I get it flushed every month.  It's really nice because of the aforementioned limited number of viable veins.  Plus, blood can also be drawn from it.  My Tob levels can't be drawn from it, though, because that's where the antibiotic goes in, so the results would not be accurate.  They have an average lifespan of 5 years before they need to be replaced, but I and a few other CFers have pretty much crushed that statistic.  I got mine in April of 1997 and it's still going strong.  Usually, they need to be replaced because they stop flushing caused by clotting or because they get infected.  I have it flushed every month to help prevent the clotting.  I use heparin to flush it while in the hospital (while it's not being used for meds) and a more concentrated dose of heparin each month while I'm at home.  So, that's pretty much that.

My med is done now, so I'm gonna go take out my needle and get packed!  My next blog will be from home! Woohoo!!!