Being on home IVs is not too bad. I administer Tobra once a day and Ceftaz three times a day. The Ceftaz only takes about 10 to 15 minutes from the time I start washing my hands until I am throwing everything in the trash. I do it at 3am, 11am, and 7pm, so the worst is having to wake up in the middle of the night. For the 11am dose, I put The Muppet Show on TV to distract Lily. And then I don't have to mess with my IV for the rest of the time I am home alone with her.
Things are pretty busy once Greg gets home from work. The Tobra takes over an hour to infuse, so I start that when he gets home at 5:30. I do albuterol and hypertonic saline at the same time, and Greg throws together an easy dinner while he watches Lily. And then we all eat. (while the Tobra is still being infused). Then I make some ginger tea because the Tobra makes me feel like upchucking. After that, I administer the 7pm dose of Ceftaz. And then I vest for 20 minutes. Shortly after that, it's time for Lily's bath, so Greg does that while I rinse my sinuses and clean the kitchen. Then I comb her hair and brush her teeth, and Greg reads her a book and puts her to bed. She cries at bedtime now, which sucks, but it's better than risking her getting a high dose of Tobra through my milk. At 9:30, I pump for 20 minutes and then go to bed. I will say that this would not have been manageable if Greg had not canceled his work trip!
Oh, and perhaps most important of all, I am feeling better. I'm not 100%, yet, but I have more energy and I am coughing a lot less.
{disneyland day one}
6 years ago
2 comments:
I am glad to hear you are feeling better. I am amazed that you only do 10-15 minutes of Ceftaz. When my daughter is on it, it has to infuse for 3 hours, every 8 hours. She is usually on two different one's at home and the other one runs for 2 hours, every 12 hours..I would love to try your schedule..lol..
How long until you are done?
Debbie, I'm supposed to be on the IVs for 10 days. That is crazy that the meds take that long! My Ceftaz is in a syringe that I just push into my PICC line over "two to four minutes" (as the directions say). The other six to nine minutes I am washing my hands, flushing, etc. 13 hours a day must be overwhelming!
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