Well, drat.
The right port in H.'s head continues to be a problem.
Last Wednesday, I felt it and could feel the rim of the port (it looks like a little circular disk if you see one not in someone's body) and so decided that I would go ahead and try to do the expansion. I got everything ready and had H. sit down. Now, as much as I don't like doing this, I'm pretty good at it and have never had a problem getting the needle in the port at the first attempt. On Wednesday, I tried five different needle sticks and couldn't find it. H. and I were both close to or in tears by the time I decided I just wasn't going to find it.
This morning was the first time I could call the office and when I talked to the nurse, she mentioned that she thought perhaps the port was flipped due to all the fluid that had been around it. The nurse had time to see us, so we got ourselves ready and headed back up to the office. I knew the nurse was going to try to turn the port manually if it was flipped, so we gave H. some Tylenol with Codeine and slathered the site with Emla cream. It didn't sound like it would be a fun event.
When we got up there, the nurse tried to access the port and she couldn't do it either. (Which, I admit made me feel better.) She decided that yes, indeed, the port was flipped. She tried to turn it manually which looked like me holding H. in a big hug to keep her calm and putting my head along hers to counteract the pressure that the nurse was using trying to turn the darn thing, all the while H. was whimpering. H. was a trooper.
Sadly, the nurse wasn't able to turn the port. The surgeon is very good at turning ports, so we are scheduled to go back up early Wednesday morning to see if he can do it. I don't even want to consider the alternative if he can't. I think we are going to give a mild sedative, the type that oral surgeons prescribe before tooth extractions, to help take the edge off. We really need to get the done and it is not going to feel good.
So now we will go back to our regularly scheduled holiday and try not to think about Wednesday.
Bleh.
Last Wednesday, I felt it and could feel the rim of the port (it looks like a little circular disk if you see one not in someone's body) and so decided that I would go ahead and try to do the expansion. I got everything ready and had H. sit down. Now, as much as I don't like doing this, I'm pretty good at it and have never had a problem getting the needle in the port at the first attempt. On Wednesday, I tried five different needle sticks and couldn't find it. H. and I were both close to or in tears by the time I decided I just wasn't going to find it.
This morning was the first time I could call the office and when I talked to the nurse, she mentioned that she thought perhaps the port was flipped due to all the fluid that had been around it. The nurse had time to see us, so we got ourselves ready and headed back up to the office. I knew the nurse was going to try to turn the port manually if it was flipped, so we gave H. some Tylenol with Codeine and slathered the site with Emla cream. It didn't sound like it would be a fun event.
When we got up there, the nurse tried to access the port and she couldn't do it either. (Which, I admit made me feel better.) She decided that yes, indeed, the port was flipped. She tried to turn it manually which looked like me holding H. in a big hug to keep her calm and putting my head along hers to counteract the pressure that the nurse was using trying to turn the darn thing, all the while H. was whimpering. H. was a trooper.
Sadly, the nurse wasn't able to turn the port. The surgeon is very good at turning ports, so we are scheduled to go back up early Wednesday morning to see if he can do it. I don't even want to consider the alternative if he can't. I think we are going to give a mild sedative, the type that oral surgeons prescribe before tooth extractions, to help take the edge off. We really need to get the done and it is not going to feel good.
So now we will go back to our regularly scheduled holiday and try not to think about Wednesday.
Bleh.
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