Roy left Methodist Cypress on Friday with a “shiny new” Smart Port power-injectible port installed on his right chest, an identification card to carry, a key-ring card, several duplicate cards, and a blue and white gel bracelet to wear that says he has a Smart Port. He doesn’t like jewelry, barely tolerates wearing his wedding band slipping it from hand to hand all of these years, and I think this might be an annoyance in the day-to-day, but I suppose will be handy to wear when/if hospitalized. I am guessing he should be wearing it when he goes to labs or for the infusions at the least.
The whole thing took a little longer than planned because Roy’s unique traits demanded attention. We arrived at the hospital for the Interventional Radiology team to install his port at about 7:15 am. He didn’t actually get to go back to the procedure until almost 10 am. His allergy to penicillin meant that they had to swap out their normal antibiotic for Vancomycin. That required that the pharmacy mix up a special cocktail for Roy to be dripped into him during and after the procedure. In some ways, he had a practice infusion, but it was into his arm, not the port. The actual port installation procedure took a bit over an hour but waiting for him to have all the Vancomycin drip into his body afterward added some extra, stay still in bed and don’t-sit-up, time to the post-installation observation period. He had two really great nurses, Toni and Shaniqua, who helped him stay as comfortable as possible (a pinched nerve was acting up in his leg). Since Friday, Roy’s been sleeping a lot, but has not had any signs of infection or other misadventures. Roy contends that they gave him some extra sedation, too.
The SmartPort is kinda cool – it is about the size of a nickel and sits beneath his skin. It’s got a silicone center that will give access to the catheter into one of his veins, so the nurses will just insert the needle there, going forward, to give him the infusions, other medications, or get some of his blood for tests. I think his poor arms and hands will be glad to have the needles going elsewhere. Roy’s got to keep it covered for a few more days – it is giving him that bandaid stuck-on-me kinda itch – but soon he will be able to “move about the cabin freely” without the extra seal.
Did you know that glucose helps with imaging in the lungs? We learned this when Roy got a PET Scan on Tuesday morning at the Methodist Medical Center Outpatient Center. Roy went back and was with that team for a bit over an hour. Most of the time was spent administering glucose to make everything show up more clearly on the PET Scan. The actual scan, according to the technician, only took about 10 minutes because they have a new big, bad machine that has cut their scan times by 75%. Roy won’t get the final word on if the PET Scan cleared him for that facet of transplant until his consultation with Pulmonary tomorrow.
I’m officially re-retired and it feels a little weird. I slipped the electronic leashes over the weekend – deleting work-specific accounts, apps and software from my phone and personal laptop, and taking off the Fitbit watch I’ve been wearing for the office. Today I got to participate in a Bible study, sorted through treasures brought home from the office, went back to my workout group, and finished Atwood’s Oryx and Crake. The cats are incredibly confused, but I am sure we will all find a new rhythm soon.
Waiting 
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