Went to work today, hurray!
And had my first shower this morning after having my trifusion catheter installed. That…didn’t go so well. The nurse from the hospital supplied us with a packet of these plastic adhesive shower shields to stick over the dressing so it wouldn’t get wet. She told us to use two of them overlapping and to try to keep the area from direct spray.
Two. Overlapping. Avoid direct spray. Check.
Problem is, where the catheter is installed–in my upper chest–it’s all bends and curves. I plastered the plastic shield thing firmly around the dressing, but it gaped and let water in almost immediately, every time I shifted my right arm. Had to truncate my shower and have Matthew help me do an emergency sterilizing and re-dressing of the catheter.
How the hell am I going to be able to shower and keep the catheter’s dressing dry?? Gah!
Tomorrow we begin the fun, fun adventure of daily self-injections of Neupogen. Neupogen will increase my white cell counts but more importantly, it will stimulate stem cell production–which is vital because I’m slated to have them harvested next week for my transplant.
Matthew and I both received training on how to stick me. We’ll see how that goes. I’m betting I’ll be better at injecting me than he will.
Work! Progress! The shower issue is terribly annoying, though!
It really is! Glargh. :/
We’re so used to the luxury of showers, it’s probably hard to make do with tub baths or sponge baths. Although I would find that part easier than self-injection. I guess it all comes down to doing whatever it takes to get well, so I know you’ll get through this part, too.
To bad you can’t administer the shot through the port.
I know, right??
Just like you told me, focus on the good! You got to go to work today! All the rest is small, annoying bits.
You are amazing!
I know you’ll figure the shower stuff out, because you’re pretty awesome. And determined. Glad you went to work today!
So sorry. Long showers are one of my few vices, so I know how nice they are to wake up to. One idea: at Burning Man, I hang a solar water heater (I.e. a black plastic bag with a tube that has a nozzle you can control) and use that to shower. You have complete control over when the water flows, how much, and where, so you could wet and rinse around the cath. You could hang that in your shower. You can buy these for about $15 at any sports/outdoors/camping store.
Thanks for the suggestion, Eric! That or something like it where I can better control the water flow might be the answer. Also, possibly press ‘n seal plastic wrap…
Instead of stitches, they had used duraglue to keep my incision shut. I had to keep it away from water like it was the plague, to avoid weakening the glue. It made bathing…interesting. And washing my hair? Couldn’t do that for four weeks.