George’s journey to cancer treatments began today with the implant of a port. This device, put in George’s right upper chest, will allow for the recommended immunotherapy to be administered without the constant needle pokes and IV starts each time.
We began the day with the 58 mile drive to MHealth Fairview Southdale hospital in Edina. After the usual registration paperwork, we were escorted to his suite-for-the-day and greeted by a lovely nursing assistant who recorded his vital signs and covered him with that wonderful blanket fresh out of the the warmer, the one—possibly the only one—benefit of day surgery.
This is never an easy job for even the most talented and skilled of nurses. George has been told he has “rolling veins” which seem to disappear entirely when a needle is anywhere near. It not only takes several tries but usually several nurses and several hot packs to achieve success.
Today was no exception.
The third nurse to try finally got it as we all held our collective breaths. The IV in place with the patient now greatly relieved, it was discovered he had an order for some lab work. Normally this is not a big deal as blood is just withdrawn through the IV. But, as luck would have it, that wasn’t a go. A lab tech was called and more hot packs and needle sticks ensued.
When all preliminaries were complete, a nurse practitioner came to explain the procedure in detail. Using a model, she showed us what the port looks like and told us the advantages of having a port implanted. She also reviewed the care for afterwards. George will wear a bracelet after the procedure as an alert that he has a port.
Finally, his assigned nurse scrubbed the area on the upper chest and administered an antibiotic through his IV.
So now we’re ready and it’s time for set-go. Away he went down the hall for the hour-long procedure as I turned in another direction to the cafeteria for some lunch. I said a little prayer and knew he was in the Lord’s care.
When I returned to his room, he was already back, sound asleep and snoring up a storm. They said all went well and he could go home in another hour.
I have to put a plug in for the hospital staff. They were extremely busy, yet every staff member was kind, pleasant, professional, took more than ample time with us and made us feel important. God bless them for their tireless work.
And now…bring on the treatments to arrest that cancer. 🥊
Thank you for listening to my random thoughts
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