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Port Questions
- Thread starter gsplover
- Start date
Okay you asked for it. It's going to be a long one...
Let me preface by saying that I had my gallbladder removed in 2001 - I didn't have stones per se. They said it just looked like a bunch of sludge in there (eww).
Cut to 2003 - I started having pain again that felt exactly like the old gallbladder pains. I thought to myself "can you still have gallbladder issues if you don't have a gallbladder?" A quick search on the web and it turns out that YES, you can. I went to the ER that night because I was in so much pain.
They kept me there forEVER (if any of you have ever been to the ER when it wasn't "really" an emergency, you know what I'm talking about). They ran some blood tests and did an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that my bile duct looked inflamed. The doc said that I'd probably just passed a stone, even though my blood work showed that my white blood cell count was off the map (a sure sign of infection) and even though I told him I'd never really HAD stones before, just a lot of sludge. He sent me home with a prescription for Vicodin and told me to drink lots of water.
I went home (it was morning by this time), took a vicodin and went to sleep. I woke up a few hours later, and tried to get up. My vision was blurry and it felt difficult to move my legs. I'd been on vicodin before and never felt THIS loopy, but it was the only thing I could think of that would be causing these weird symptoms. I called my aunt and asked her to bring me some food because I just couldn't stand up long enough to make anything. I filled up a huge water bottle and went back to my room and proceeded to drink almost 2 liters of water, thinking maybe I was just dehydrated.
When my aunt arrived, I realized I hadn't peed in 24 hours. And I'd drank all that water. Something was NOT right. I told her we needed to go to the hospital. I got out of bed and fell to the floor. I could not stand at all now. She carried me to the bathroom so I could try to pee, but I couldn't...my kidneys were failing, but we didn't know that yet.
She called my uncle and he left work to come carry me to the car because I could not walk. I could barely see, as my vision was blurry and darkening at the edges.
Whew, this is getting long and it's supposed to be a PORT story...I'm getting there, I promise.
I get to the ER and they have to bring out a wheelchair and wheel me in. My blood pressure is something like 60 over 20 - really low. Now this is the funny part. The nurse who did the admitting thing and took my blood pressure was like, very calmly, "hmm, it's a little low...lets just take you back" He didn't take my temperature or ask me any questions like they normally do. Turns out I was dying, but we didn't know, lol
So the second I get back to my "exam room" it's like a scene from some movie...doctor's, nurses, everyone flying around in panic, screaming at each other, falling all over each other trying to take care of me. I calmly told them I had a port and that it was a double lumen and I told them what type and size needle to use - one nurse later told my aunt through tears that she couldn't believe I was even conscious because my blood pressure was so low. Oh yeah, and my heart rate was 165!!
Turns out I had a septic infection from that blockage in my bile duct, and if that first ER doc had paid attention to my labs, he would never have sent me home. Now I was in total organ failure, had to be intubated and the whole nine. By the way, you all remember Marky Mark Whalberg? His sister, a perfectly healthy woman, died from sepsis - it kills something like 60% of the people who get it (my numbers may be off here, but that is what I heard).
The point of the story is, if I didn't have this port I really believe they wouldn't have been able to save me. And because my port is a double lumen, they were able to access both sides at the same time and give me all the meds and fluids I needed. PLUS they could give them to me FAST because it's a big ol vein they're using when they use a port.
I used to be really upset that they gave me a double lumen without even asking me if that's what I wanted. I used to be really upset that it had to be accessed every month, because nobody told me that before I got the port, and since it was a double, it had to be accessed TWICE. Now, I'm more grateful than ever that I have this port. It saved my life. Period.
Of course, that little episode took a huge chunk of my lung function away forever. Grrr. But I'm glad to be here and had I not taken such good care of myself to that point and been as healthy as I was when it happened, I probably wouldn't be here either.
Moral of the story - CF Compliance GOOD, port GOOD, double-lumen port REALLY GOOD (especially if you have crappy veins - you never know when you might need IV access fast).
Let me preface by saying that I had my gallbladder removed in 2001 - I didn't have stones per se. They said it just looked like a bunch of sludge in there (eww).
Cut to 2003 - I started having pain again that felt exactly like the old gallbladder pains. I thought to myself "can you still have gallbladder issues if you don't have a gallbladder?" A quick search on the web and it turns out that YES, you can. I went to the ER that night because I was in so much pain.
They kept me there forEVER (if any of you have ever been to the ER when it wasn't "really" an emergency, you know what I'm talking about). They ran some blood tests and did an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that my bile duct looked inflamed. The doc said that I'd probably just passed a stone, even though my blood work showed that my white blood cell count was off the map (a sure sign of infection) and even though I told him I'd never really HAD stones before, just a lot of sludge. He sent me home with a prescription for Vicodin and told me to drink lots of water.
I went home (it was morning by this time), took a vicodin and went to sleep. I woke up a few hours later, and tried to get up. My vision was blurry and it felt difficult to move my legs. I'd been on vicodin before and never felt THIS loopy, but it was the only thing I could think of that would be causing these weird symptoms. I called my aunt and asked her to bring me some food because I just couldn't stand up long enough to make anything. I filled up a huge water bottle and went back to my room and proceeded to drink almost 2 liters of water, thinking maybe I was just dehydrated.
When my aunt arrived, I realized I hadn't peed in 24 hours. And I'd drank all that water. Something was NOT right. I told her we needed to go to the hospital. I got out of bed and fell to the floor. I could not stand at all now. She carried me to the bathroom so I could try to pee, but I couldn't...my kidneys were failing, but we didn't know that yet.
She called my uncle and he left work to come carry me to the car because I could not walk. I could barely see, as my vision was blurry and darkening at the edges.
Whew, this is getting long and it's supposed to be a PORT story...I'm getting there, I promise.
I get to the ER and they have to bring out a wheelchair and wheel me in. My blood pressure is something like 60 over 20 - really low. Now this is the funny part. The nurse who did the admitting thing and took my blood pressure was like, very calmly, "hmm, it's a little low...lets just take you back" He didn't take my temperature or ask me any questions like they normally do. Turns out I was dying, but we didn't know, lol
So the second I get back to my "exam room" it's like a scene from some movie...doctor's, nurses, everyone flying around in panic, screaming at each other, falling all over each other trying to take care of me. I calmly told them I had a port and that it was a double lumen and I told them what type and size needle to use - one nurse later told my aunt through tears that she couldn't believe I was even conscious because my blood pressure was so low. Oh yeah, and my heart rate was 165!!
Turns out I had a septic infection from that blockage in my bile duct, and if that first ER doc had paid attention to my labs, he would never have sent me home. Now I was in total organ failure, had to be intubated and the whole nine. By the way, you all remember Marky Mark Whalberg? His sister, a perfectly healthy woman, died from sepsis - it kills something like 60% of the people who get it (my numbers may be off here, but that is what I heard).
The point of the story is, if I didn't have this port I really believe they wouldn't have been able to save me. And because my port is a double lumen, they were able to access both sides at the same time and give me all the meds and fluids I needed. PLUS they could give them to me FAST because it's a big ol vein they're using when they use a port.
I used to be really upset that they gave me a double lumen without even asking me if that's what I wanted. I used to be really upset that it had to be accessed every month, because nobody told me that before I got the port, and since it was a double, it had to be accessed TWICE. Now, I'm more grateful than ever that I have this port. It saved my life. Period.
Of course, that little episode took a huge chunk of my lung function away forever. Grrr. But I'm glad to be here and had I not taken such good care of myself to that point and been as healthy as I was when it happened, I probably wouldn't be here either.
Moral of the story - CF Compliance GOOD, port GOOD, double-lumen port REALLY GOOD (especially if you have crappy veins - you never know when you might need IV access fast).
Okay you asked for it. It's going to be a long one...
Let me preface by saying that I had my gallbladder removed in 2001 - I didn't have stones per se. They said it just looked like a bunch of sludge in there (eww).
Cut to 2003 - I started having pain again that felt exactly like the old gallbladder pains. I thought to myself "can you still have gallbladder issues if you don't have a gallbladder?" A quick search on the web and it turns out that YES, you can. I went to the ER that night because I was in so much pain.
They kept me there forEVER (if any of you have ever been to the ER when it wasn't "really" an emergency, you know what I'm talking about). They ran some blood tests and did an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that my bile duct looked inflamed. The doc said that I'd probably just passed a stone, even though my blood work showed that my white blood cell count was off the map (a sure sign of infection) and even though I told him I'd never really HAD stones before, just a lot of sludge. He sent me home with a prescription for Vicodin and told me to drink lots of water.
I went home (it was morning by this time), took a vicodin and went to sleep. I woke up a few hours later, and tried to get up. My vision was blurry and it felt difficult to move my legs. I'd been on vicodin before and never felt THIS loopy, but it was the only thing I could think of that would be causing these weird symptoms. I called my aunt and asked her to bring me some food because I just couldn't stand up long enough to make anything. I filled up a huge water bottle and went back to my room and proceeded to drink almost 2 liters of water, thinking maybe I was just dehydrated.
When my aunt arrived, I realized I hadn't peed in 24 hours. And I'd drank all that water. Something was NOT right. I told her we needed to go to the hospital. I got out of bed and fell to the floor. I could not stand at all now. She carried me to the bathroom so I could try to pee, but I couldn't...my kidneys were failing, but we didn't know that yet.
She called my uncle and he left work to come carry me to the car because I could not walk. I could barely see, as my vision was blurry and darkening at the edges.
Whew, this is getting long and it's supposed to be a PORT story...I'm getting there, I promise.
I get to the ER and they have to bring out a wheelchair and wheel me in. My blood pressure is something like 60 over 20 - really low. Now this is the funny part. The nurse who did the admitting thing and took my blood pressure was like, very calmly, "hmm, it's a little low...lets just take you back" He didn't take my temperature or ask me any questions like they normally do. Turns out I was dying, but we didn't know, lol
So the second I get back to my "exam room" it's like a scene from some movie...doctor's, nurses, everyone flying around in panic, screaming at each other, falling all over each other trying to take care of me. I calmly told them I had a port and that it was a double lumen and I told them what type and size needle to use - one nurse later told my aunt through tears that she couldn't believe I was even conscious because my blood pressure was so low. Oh yeah, and my heart rate was 165!!
Turns out I had a septic infection from that blockage in my bile duct, and if that first ER doc had paid attention to my labs, he would never have sent me home. Now I was in total organ failure, had to be intubated and the whole nine. By the way, you all remember Marky Mark Whalberg? His sister, a perfectly healthy woman, died from sepsis - it kills something like 60% of the people who get it (my numbers may be off here, but that is what I heard).
The point of the story is, if I didn't have this port I really believe they wouldn't have been able to save me. And because my port is a double lumen, they were able to access both sides at the same time and give me all the meds and fluids I needed. PLUS they could give them to me FAST because it's a big ol vein they're using when they use a port.
I used to be really upset that they gave me a double lumen without even asking me if that's what I wanted. I used to be really upset that it had to be accessed every month, because nobody told me that before I got the port, and since it was a double, it had to be accessed TWICE. Now, I'm more grateful than ever that I have this port. It saved my life. Period.
Of course, that little episode took a huge chunk of my lung function away forever. Grrr. But I'm glad to be here and had I not taken such good care of myself to that point and been as healthy as I was when it happened, I probably wouldn't be here either.
Moral of the story - CF Compliance GOOD, port GOOD, double-lumen port REALLY GOOD (especially if you have crappy veins - you never know when you might need IV access fast).
Let me preface by saying that I had my gallbladder removed in 2001 - I didn't have stones per se. They said it just looked like a bunch of sludge in there (eww).
Cut to 2003 - I started having pain again that felt exactly like the old gallbladder pains. I thought to myself "can you still have gallbladder issues if you don't have a gallbladder?" A quick search on the web and it turns out that YES, you can. I went to the ER that night because I was in so much pain.
They kept me there forEVER (if any of you have ever been to the ER when it wasn't "really" an emergency, you know what I'm talking about). They ran some blood tests and did an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that my bile duct looked inflamed. The doc said that I'd probably just passed a stone, even though my blood work showed that my white blood cell count was off the map (a sure sign of infection) and even though I told him I'd never really HAD stones before, just a lot of sludge. He sent me home with a prescription for Vicodin and told me to drink lots of water.
I went home (it was morning by this time), took a vicodin and went to sleep. I woke up a few hours later, and tried to get up. My vision was blurry and it felt difficult to move my legs. I'd been on vicodin before and never felt THIS loopy, but it was the only thing I could think of that would be causing these weird symptoms. I called my aunt and asked her to bring me some food because I just couldn't stand up long enough to make anything. I filled up a huge water bottle and went back to my room and proceeded to drink almost 2 liters of water, thinking maybe I was just dehydrated.
When my aunt arrived, I realized I hadn't peed in 24 hours. And I'd drank all that water. Something was NOT right. I told her we needed to go to the hospital. I got out of bed and fell to the floor. I could not stand at all now. She carried me to the bathroom so I could try to pee, but I couldn't...my kidneys were failing, but we didn't know that yet.
She called my uncle and he left work to come carry me to the car because I could not walk. I could barely see, as my vision was blurry and darkening at the edges.
Whew, this is getting long and it's supposed to be a PORT story...I'm getting there, I promise.
I get to the ER and they have to bring out a wheelchair and wheel me in. My blood pressure is something like 60 over 20 - really low. Now this is the funny part. The nurse who did the admitting thing and took my blood pressure was like, very calmly, "hmm, it's a little low...lets just take you back" He didn't take my temperature or ask me any questions like they normally do. Turns out I was dying, but we didn't know, lol
So the second I get back to my "exam room" it's like a scene from some movie...doctor's, nurses, everyone flying around in panic, screaming at each other, falling all over each other trying to take care of me. I calmly told them I had a port and that it was a double lumen and I told them what type and size needle to use - one nurse later told my aunt through tears that she couldn't believe I was even conscious because my blood pressure was so low. Oh yeah, and my heart rate was 165!!
Turns out I had a septic infection from that blockage in my bile duct, and if that first ER doc had paid attention to my labs, he would never have sent me home. Now I was in total organ failure, had to be intubated and the whole nine. By the way, you all remember Marky Mark Whalberg? His sister, a perfectly healthy woman, died from sepsis - it kills something like 60% of the people who get it (my numbers may be off here, but that is what I heard).
The point of the story is, if I didn't have this port I really believe they wouldn't have been able to save me. And because my port is a double lumen, they were able to access both sides at the same time and give me all the meds and fluids I needed. PLUS they could give them to me FAST because it's a big ol vein they're using when they use a port.
I used to be really upset that they gave me a double lumen without even asking me if that's what I wanted. I used to be really upset that it had to be accessed every month, because nobody told me that before I got the port, and since it was a double, it had to be accessed TWICE. Now, I'm more grateful than ever that I have this port. It saved my life. Period.
Of course, that little episode took a huge chunk of my lung function away forever. Grrr. But I'm glad to be here and had I not taken such good care of myself to that point and been as healthy as I was when it happened, I probably wouldn't be here either.
Moral of the story - CF Compliance GOOD, port GOOD, double-lumen port REALLY GOOD (especially if you have crappy veins - you never know when you might need IV access fast).
Okay you asked for it. It's going to be a long one...
Let me preface by saying that I had my gallbladder removed in 2001 - I didn't have stones per se. They said it just looked like a bunch of sludge in there (eww).
Cut to 2003 - I started having pain again that felt exactly like the old gallbladder pains. I thought to myself "can you still have gallbladder issues if you don't have a gallbladder?" A quick search on the web and it turns out that YES, you can. I went to the ER that night because I was in so much pain.
They kept me there forEVER (if any of you have ever been to the ER when it wasn't "really" an emergency, you know what I'm talking about). They ran some blood tests and did an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that my bile duct looked inflamed. The doc said that I'd probably just passed a stone, even though my blood work showed that my white blood cell count was off the map (a sure sign of infection) and even though I told him I'd never really HAD stones before, just a lot of sludge. He sent me home with a prescription for Vicodin and told me to drink lots of water.
I went home (it was morning by this time), took a vicodin and went to sleep. I woke up a few hours later, and tried to get up. My vision was blurry and it felt difficult to move my legs. I'd been on vicodin before and never felt THIS loopy, but it was the only thing I could think of that would be causing these weird symptoms. I called my aunt and asked her to bring me some food because I just couldn't stand up long enough to make anything. I filled up a huge water bottle and went back to my room and proceeded to drink almost 2 liters of water, thinking maybe I was just dehydrated.
When my aunt arrived, I realized I hadn't peed in 24 hours. And I'd drank all that water. Something was NOT right. I told her we needed to go to the hospital. I got out of bed and fell to the floor. I could not stand at all now. She carried me to the bathroom so I could try to pee, but I couldn't...my kidneys were failing, but we didn't know that yet.
She called my uncle and he left work to come carry me to the car because I could not walk. I could barely see, as my vision was blurry and darkening at the edges.
Whew, this is getting long and it's supposed to be a PORT story...I'm getting there, I promise.
I get to the ER and they have to bring out a wheelchair and wheel me in. My blood pressure is something like 60 over 20 - really low. Now this is the funny part. The nurse who did the admitting thing and took my blood pressure was like, very calmly, "hmm, it's a little low...lets just take you back" He didn't take my temperature or ask me any questions like they normally do. Turns out I was dying, but we didn't know, lol
So the second I get back to my "exam room" it's like a scene from some movie...doctor's, nurses, everyone flying around in panic, screaming at each other, falling all over each other trying to take care of me. I calmly told them I had a port and that it was a double lumen and I told them what type and size needle to use - one nurse later told my aunt through tears that she couldn't believe I was even conscious because my blood pressure was so low. Oh yeah, and my heart rate was 165!!
Turns out I had a septic infection from that blockage in my bile duct, and if that first ER doc had paid attention to my labs, he would never have sent me home. Now I was in total organ failure, had to be intubated and the whole nine. By the way, you all remember Marky Mark Whalberg? His sister, a perfectly healthy woman, died from sepsis - it kills something like 60% of the people who get it (my numbers may be off here, but that is what I heard).
The point of the story is, if I didn't have this port I really believe they wouldn't have been able to save me. And because my port is a double lumen, they were able to access both sides at the same time and give me all the meds and fluids I needed. PLUS they could give them to me FAST because it's a big ol vein they're using when they use a port.
I used to be really upset that they gave me a double lumen without even asking me if that's what I wanted. I used to be really upset that it had to be accessed every month, because nobody told me that before I got the port, and since it was a double, it had to be accessed TWICE. Now, I'm more grateful than ever that I have this port. It saved my life. Period.
Of course, that little episode took a huge chunk of my lung function away forever. Grrr. But I'm glad to be here and had I not taken such good care of myself to that point and been as healthy as I was when it happened, I probably wouldn't be here either.
Moral of the story - CF Compliance GOOD, port GOOD, double-lumen port REALLY GOOD (especially if you have crappy veins - you never know when you might need IV access fast).
Let me preface by saying that I had my gallbladder removed in 2001 - I didn't have stones per se. They said it just looked like a bunch of sludge in there (eww).
Cut to 2003 - I started having pain again that felt exactly like the old gallbladder pains. I thought to myself "can you still have gallbladder issues if you don't have a gallbladder?" A quick search on the web and it turns out that YES, you can. I went to the ER that night because I was in so much pain.
They kept me there forEVER (if any of you have ever been to the ER when it wasn't "really" an emergency, you know what I'm talking about). They ran some blood tests and did an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that my bile duct looked inflamed. The doc said that I'd probably just passed a stone, even though my blood work showed that my white blood cell count was off the map (a sure sign of infection) and even though I told him I'd never really HAD stones before, just a lot of sludge. He sent me home with a prescription for Vicodin and told me to drink lots of water.
I went home (it was morning by this time), took a vicodin and went to sleep. I woke up a few hours later, and tried to get up. My vision was blurry and it felt difficult to move my legs. I'd been on vicodin before and never felt THIS loopy, but it was the only thing I could think of that would be causing these weird symptoms. I called my aunt and asked her to bring me some food because I just couldn't stand up long enough to make anything. I filled up a huge water bottle and went back to my room and proceeded to drink almost 2 liters of water, thinking maybe I was just dehydrated.
When my aunt arrived, I realized I hadn't peed in 24 hours. And I'd drank all that water. Something was NOT right. I told her we needed to go to the hospital. I got out of bed and fell to the floor. I could not stand at all now. She carried me to the bathroom so I could try to pee, but I couldn't...my kidneys were failing, but we didn't know that yet.
She called my uncle and he left work to come carry me to the car because I could not walk. I could barely see, as my vision was blurry and darkening at the edges.
Whew, this is getting long and it's supposed to be a PORT story...I'm getting there, I promise.
I get to the ER and they have to bring out a wheelchair and wheel me in. My blood pressure is something like 60 over 20 - really low. Now this is the funny part. The nurse who did the admitting thing and took my blood pressure was like, very calmly, "hmm, it's a little low...lets just take you back" He didn't take my temperature or ask me any questions like they normally do. Turns out I was dying, but we didn't know, lol
So the second I get back to my "exam room" it's like a scene from some movie...doctor's, nurses, everyone flying around in panic, screaming at each other, falling all over each other trying to take care of me. I calmly told them I had a port and that it was a double lumen and I told them what type and size needle to use - one nurse later told my aunt through tears that she couldn't believe I was even conscious because my blood pressure was so low. Oh yeah, and my heart rate was 165!!
Turns out I had a septic infection from that blockage in my bile duct, and if that first ER doc had paid attention to my labs, he would never have sent me home. Now I was in total organ failure, had to be intubated and the whole nine. By the way, you all remember Marky Mark Whalberg? His sister, a perfectly healthy woman, died from sepsis - it kills something like 60% of the people who get it (my numbers may be off here, but that is what I heard).
The point of the story is, if I didn't have this port I really believe they wouldn't have been able to save me. And because my port is a double lumen, they were able to access both sides at the same time and give me all the meds and fluids I needed. PLUS they could give them to me FAST because it's a big ol vein they're using when they use a port.
I used to be really upset that they gave me a double lumen without even asking me if that's what I wanted. I used to be really upset that it had to be accessed every month, because nobody told me that before I got the port, and since it was a double, it had to be accessed TWICE. Now, I'm more grateful than ever that I have this port. It saved my life. Period.
Of course, that little episode took a huge chunk of my lung function away forever. Grrr. But I'm glad to be here and had I not taken such good care of myself to that point and been as healthy as I was when it happened, I probably wouldn't be here either.
Moral of the story - CF Compliance GOOD, port GOOD, double-lumen port REALLY GOOD (especially if you have crappy veins - you never know when you might need IV access fast).
Okay you asked for it. It's going to be a long one...
Let me preface by saying that I had my gallbladder removed in 2001 - I didn't have stones per se. They said it just looked like a bunch of sludge in there (eww).
Cut to 2003 - I started having pain again that felt exactly like the old gallbladder pains. I thought to myself "can you still have gallbladder issues if you don't have a gallbladder?" A quick search on the web and it turns out that YES, you can. I went to the ER that night because I was in so much pain.
They kept me there forEVER (if any of you have ever been to the ER when it wasn't "really" an emergency, you know what I'm talking about). They ran some blood tests and did an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that my bile duct looked inflamed. The doc said that I'd probably just passed a stone, even though my blood work showed that my white blood cell count was off the map (a sure sign of infection) and even though I told him I'd never really HAD stones before, just a lot of sludge. He sent me home with a prescription for Vicodin and told me to drink lots of water.
I went home (it was morning by this time), took a vicodin and went to sleep. I woke up a few hours later, and tried to get up. My vision was blurry and it felt difficult to move my legs. I'd been on vicodin before and never felt THIS loopy, but it was the only thing I could think of that would be causing these weird symptoms. I called my aunt and asked her to bring me some food because I just couldn't stand up long enough to make anything. I filled up a huge water bottle and went back to my room and proceeded to drink almost 2 liters of water, thinking maybe I was just dehydrated.
When my aunt arrived, I realized I hadn't peed in 24 hours. And I'd drank all that water. Something was NOT right. I told her we needed to go to the hospital. I got out of bed and fell to the floor. I could not stand at all now. She carried me to the bathroom so I could try to pee, but I couldn't...my kidneys were failing, but we didn't know that yet.
She called my uncle and he left work to come carry me to the car because I could not walk. I could barely see, as my vision was blurry and darkening at the edges.
Whew, this is getting long and it's supposed to be a PORT story...I'm getting there, I promise.
I get to the ER and they have to bring out a wheelchair and wheel me in. My blood pressure is something like 60 over 20 - really low. Now this is the funny part. The nurse who did the admitting thing and took my blood pressure was like, very calmly, "hmm, it's a little low...lets just take you back" He didn't take my temperature or ask me any questions like they normally do. Turns out I was dying, but we didn't know, lol
So the second I get back to my "exam room" it's like a scene from some movie...doctor's, nurses, everyone flying around in panic, screaming at each other, falling all over each other trying to take care of me. I calmly told them I had a port and that it was a double lumen and I told them what type and size needle to use - one nurse later told my aunt through tears that she couldn't believe I was even conscious because my blood pressure was so low. Oh yeah, and my heart rate was 165!!
Turns out I had a septic infection from that blockage in my bile duct, and if that first ER doc had paid attention to my labs, he would never have sent me home. Now I was in total organ failure, had to be intubated and the whole nine. By the way, you all remember Marky Mark Whalberg? His sister, a perfectly healthy woman, died from sepsis - it kills something like 60% of the people who get it (my numbers may be off here, but that is what I heard).
The point of the story is, if I didn't have this port I really believe they wouldn't have been able to save me. And because my port is a double lumen, they were able to access both sides at the same time and give me all the meds and fluids I needed. PLUS they could give them to me FAST because it's a big ol vein they're using when they use a port.
I used to be really upset that they gave me a double lumen without even asking me if that's what I wanted. I used to be really upset that it had to be accessed every month, because nobody told me that before I got the port, and since it was a double, it had to be accessed TWICE. Now, I'm more grateful than ever that I have this port. It saved my life. Period.
Of course, that little episode took a huge chunk of my lung function away forever. Grrr. But I'm glad to be here and had I not taken such good care of myself to that point and been as healthy as I was when it happened, I probably wouldn't be here either.
Moral of the story - CF Compliance GOOD, port GOOD, double-lumen port REALLY GOOD (especially if you have crappy veins - you never know when you might need IV access fast).
Let me preface by saying that I had my gallbladder removed in 2001 - I didn't have stones per se. They said it just looked like a bunch of sludge in there (eww).
Cut to 2003 - I started having pain again that felt exactly like the old gallbladder pains. I thought to myself "can you still have gallbladder issues if you don't have a gallbladder?" A quick search on the web and it turns out that YES, you can. I went to the ER that night because I was in so much pain.
They kept me there forEVER (if any of you have ever been to the ER when it wasn't "really" an emergency, you know what I'm talking about). They ran some blood tests and did an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that my bile duct looked inflamed. The doc said that I'd probably just passed a stone, even though my blood work showed that my white blood cell count was off the map (a sure sign of infection) and even though I told him I'd never really HAD stones before, just a lot of sludge. He sent me home with a prescription for Vicodin and told me to drink lots of water.
I went home (it was morning by this time), took a vicodin and went to sleep. I woke up a few hours later, and tried to get up. My vision was blurry and it felt difficult to move my legs. I'd been on vicodin before and never felt THIS loopy, but it was the only thing I could think of that would be causing these weird symptoms. I called my aunt and asked her to bring me some food because I just couldn't stand up long enough to make anything. I filled up a huge water bottle and went back to my room and proceeded to drink almost 2 liters of water, thinking maybe I was just dehydrated.
When my aunt arrived, I realized I hadn't peed in 24 hours. And I'd drank all that water. Something was NOT right. I told her we needed to go to the hospital. I got out of bed and fell to the floor. I could not stand at all now. She carried me to the bathroom so I could try to pee, but I couldn't...my kidneys were failing, but we didn't know that yet.
She called my uncle and he left work to come carry me to the car because I could not walk. I could barely see, as my vision was blurry and darkening at the edges.
Whew, this is getting long and it's supposed to be a PORT story...I'm getting there, I promise.
I get to the ER and they have to bring out a wheelchair and wheel me in. My blood pressure is something like 60 over 20 - really low. Now this is the funny part. The nurse who did the admitting thing and took my blood pressure was like, very calmly, "hmm, it's a little low...lets just take you back" He didn't take my temperature or ask me any questions like they normally do. Turns out I was dying, but we didn't know, lol
So the second I get back to my "exam room" it's like a scene from some movie...doctor's, nurses, everyone flying around in panic, screaming at each other, falling all over each other trying to take care of me. I calmly told them I had a port and that it was a double lumen and I told them what type and size needle to use - one nurse later told my aunt through tears that she couldn't believe I was even conscious because my blood pressure was so low. Oh yeah, and my heart rate was 165!!
Turns out I had a septic infection from that blockage in my bile duct, and if that first ER doc had paid attention to my labs, he would never have sent me home. Now I was in total organ failure, had to be intubated and the whole nine. By the way, you all remember Marky Mark Whalberg? His sister, a perfectly healthy woman, died from sepsis - it kills something like 60% of the people who get it (my numbers may be off here, but that is what I heard).
The point of the story is, if I didn't have this port I really believe they wouldn't have been able to save me. And because my port is a double lumen, they were able to access both sides at the same time and give me all the meds and fluids I needed. PLUS they could give them to me FAST because it's a big ol vein they're using when they use a port.
I used to be really upset that they gave me a double lumen without even asking me if that's what I wanted. I used to be really upset that it had to be accessed every month, because nobody told me that before I got the port, and since it was a double, it had to be accessed TWICE. Now, I'm more grateful than ever that I have this port. It saved my life. Period.
Of course, that little episode took a huge chunk of my lung function away forever. Grrr. But I'm glad to be here and had I not taken such good care of myself to that point and been as healthy as I was when it happened, I probably wouldn't be here either.
Moral of the story - CF Compliance GOOD, port GOOD, double-lumen port REALLY GOOD (especially if you have crappy veins - you never know when you might need IV access fast).
Okay you asked for it. It's going to be a long one...
Let me preface by saying that I had my gallbladder removed in 2001 - I didn't have stones per se. They said it just looked like a bunch of sludge in there (eww).
Cut to 2003 - I started having pain again that felt exactly like the old gallbladder pains. I thought to myself "can you still have gallbladder issues if you don't have a gallbladder?" A quick search on the web and it turns out that YES, you can. I went to the ER that night because I was in so much pain.
They kept me there forEVER (if any of you have ever been to the ER when it wasn't "really" an emergency, you know what I'm talking about). They ran some blood tests and did an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that my bile duct looked inflamed. The doc said that I'd probably just passed a stone, even though my blood work showed that my white blood cell count was off the map (a sure sign of infection) and even though I told him I'd never really HAD stones before, just a lot of sludge. He sent me home with a prescription for Vicodin and told me to drink lots of water.
I went home (it was morning by this time), took a vicodin and went to sleep. I woke up a few hours later, and tried to get up. My vision was blurry and it felt difficult to move my legs. I'd been on vicodin before and never felt THIS loopy, but it was the only thing I could think of that would be causing these weird symptoms. I called my aunt and asked her to bring me some food because I just couldn't stand up long enough to make anything. I filled up a huge water bottle and went back to my room and proceeded to drink almost 2 liters of water, thinking maybe I was just dehydrated.
When my aunt arrived, I realized I hadn't peed in 24 hours. And I'd drank all that water. Something was NOT right. I told her we needed to go to the hospital. I got out of bed and fell to the floor. I could not stand at all now. She carried me to the bathroom so I could try to pee, but I couldn't...my kidneys were failing, but we didn't know that yet.
She called my uncle and he left work to come carry me to the car because I could not walk. I could barely see, as my vision was blurry and darkening at the edges.
Whew, this is getting long and it's supposed to be a PORT story...I'm getting there, I promise.
I get to the ER and they have to bring out a wheelchair and wheel me in. My blood pressure is something like 60 over 20 - really low. Now this is the funny part. The nurse who did the admitting thing and took my blood pressure was like, very calmly, "hmm, it's a little low...lets just take you back" He didn't take my temperature or ask me any questions like they normally do. Turns out I was dying, but we didn't know, lol
So the second I get back to my "exam room" it's like a scene from some movie...doctor's, nurses, everyone flying around in panic, screaming at each other, falling all over each other trying to take care of me. I calmly told them I had a port and that it was a double lumen and I told them what type and size needle to use - one nurse later told my aunt through tears that she couldn't believe I was even conscious because my blood pressure was so low. Oh yeah, and my heart rate was 165!!
Turns out I had a septic infection from that blockage in my bile duct, and if that first ER doc had paid attention to my labs, he would never have sent me home. Now I was in total organ failure, had to be intubated and the whole nine. By the way, you all remember Marky Mark Whalberg? His sister, a perfectly healthy woman, died from sepsis - it kills something like 60% of the people who get it (my numbers may be off here, but that is what I heard).
The point of the story is, if I didn't have this port I really believe they wouldn't have been able to save me. And because my port is a double lumen, they were able to access both sides at the same time and give me all the meds and fluids I needed. PLUS they could give them to me FAST because it's a big ol vein they're using when they use a port.
I used to be really upset that they gave me a double lumen without even asking me if that's what I wanted. I used to be really upset that it had to be accessed every month, because nobody told me that before I got the port, and since it was a double, it had to be accessed TWICE. Now, I'm more grateful than ever that I have this port. It saved my life. Period.
Of course, that little episode took a huge chunk of my lung function away forever. Grrr. But I'm glad to be here and had I not taken such good care of myself to that point and been as healthy as I was when it happened, I probably wouldn't be here either.
Moral of the story - CF Compliance GOOD, port GOOD, double-lumen port REALLY GOOD (especially if you have crappy veins - you never know when you might need IV access fast).
Let me preface by saying that I had my gallbladder removed in 2001 - I didn't have stones per se. They said it just looked like a bunch of sludge in there (eww).
Cut to 2003 - I started having pain again that felt exactly like the old gallbladder pains. I thought to myself "can you still have gallbladder issues if you don't have a gallbladder?" A quick search on the web and it turns out that YES, you can. I went to the ER that night because I was in so much pain.
They kept me there forEVER (if any of you have ever been to the ER when it wasn't "really" an emergency, you know what I'm talking about). They ran some blood tests and did an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that my bile duct looked inflamed. The doc said that I'd probably just passed a stone, even though my blood work showed that my white blood cell count was off the map (a sure sign of infection) and even though I told him I'd never really HAD stones before, just a lot of sludge. He sent me home with a prescription for Vicodin and told me to drink lots of water.
I went home (it was morning by this time), took a vicodin and went to sleep. I woke up a few hours later, and tried to get up. My vision was blurry and it felt difficult to move my legs. I'd been on vicodin before and never felt THIS loopy, but it was the only thing I could think of that would be causing these weird symptoms. I called my aunt and asked her to bring me some food because I just couldn't stand up long enough to make anything. I filled up a huge water bottle and went back to my room and proceeded to drink almost 2 liters of water, thinking maybe I was just dehydrated.
When my aunt arrived, I realized I hadn't peed in 24 hours. And I'd drank all that water. Something was NOT right. I told her we needed to go to the hospital. I got out of bed and fell to the floor. I could not stand at all now. She carried me to the bathroom so I could try to pee, but I couldn't...my kidneys were failing, but we didn't know that yet.
She called my uncle and he left work to come carry me to the car because I could not walk. I could barely see, as my vision was blurry and darkening at the edges.
Whew, this is getting long and it's supposed to be a PORT story...I'm getting there, I promise.
I get to the ER and they have to bring out a wheelchair and wheel me in. My blood pressure is something like 60 over 20 - really low. Now this is the funny part. The nurse who did the admitting thing and took my blood pressure was like, very calmly, "hmm, it's a little low...lets just take you back" He didn't take my temperature or ask me any questions like they normally do. Turns out I was dying, but we didn't know, lol
So the second I get back to my "exam room" it's like a scene from some movie...doctor's, nurses, everyone flying around in panic, screaming at each other, falling all over each other trying to take care of me. I calmly told them I had a port and that it was a double lumen and I told them what type and size needle to use - one nurse later told my aunt through tears that she couldn't believe I was even conscious because my blood pressure was so low. Oh yeah, and my heart rate was 165!!
Turns out I had a septic infection from that blockage in my bile duct, and if that first ER doc had paid attention to my labs, he would never have sent me home. Now I was in total organ failure, had to be intubated and the whole nine. By the way, you all remember Marky Mark Whalberg? His sister, a perfectly healthy woman, died from sepsis - it kills something like 60% of the people who get it (my numbers may be off here, but that is what I heard).
The point of the story is, if I didn't have this port I really believe they wouldn't have been able to save me. And because my port is a double lumen, they were able to access both sides at the same time and give me all the meds and fluids I needed. PLUS they could give them to me FAST because it's a big ol vein they're using when they use a port.
I used to be really upset that they gave me a double lumen without even asking me if that's what I wanted. I used to be really upset that it had to be accessed every month, because nobody told me that before I got the port, and since it was a double, it had to be accessed TWICE. Now, I'm more grateful than ever that I have this port. It saved my life. Period.
Of course, that little episode took a huge chunk of my lung function away forever. Grrr. But I'm glad to be here and had I not taken such good care of myself to that point and been as healthy as I was when it happened, I probably wouldn't be here either.
Moral of the story - CF Compliance GOOD, port GOOD, double-lumen port REALLY GOOD (especially if you have crappy veins - you never know when you might need IV access fast).
Okay you asked for it. It's going to be a long one...
Let me preface by saying that I had my gallbladder removed in 2001 - I didn't have stones per se. They said it just looked like a bunch of sludge in there (eww).
Cut to 2003 - I started having pain again that felt exactly like the old gallbladder pains. I thought to myself "can you still have gallbladder issues if you don't have a gallbladder?" A quick search on the web and it turns out that YES, you can. I went to the ER that night because I was in so much pain.
They kept me there forEVER (if any of you have ever been to the ER when it wasn't "really" an emergency, you know what I'm talking about). They ran some blood tests and did an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that my bile duct looked inflamed. The doc said that I'd probably just passed a stone, even though my blood work showed that my white blood cell count was off the map (a sure sign of infection) and even though I told him I'd never really HAD stones before, just a lot of sludge. He sent me home with a prescription for Vicodin and told me to drink lots of water.
I went home (it was morning by this time), took a vicodin and went to sleep. I woke up a few hours later, and tried to get up. My vision was blurry and it felt difficult to move my legs. I'd been on vicodin before and never felt THIS loopy, but it was the only thing I could think of that would be causing these weird symptoms. I called my aunt and asked her to bring me some food because I just couldn't stand up long enough to make anything. I filled up a huge water bottle and went back to my room and proceeded to drink almost 2 liters of water, thinking maybe I was just dehydrated.
When my aunt arrived, I realized I hadn't peed in 24 hours. And I'd drank all that water. Something was NOT right. I told her we needed to go to the hospital. I got out of bed and fell to the floor. I could not stand at all now. She carried me to the bathroom so I could try to pee, but I couldn't...my kidneys were failing, but we didn't know that yet.
She called my uncle and he left work to come carry me to the car because I could not walk. I could barely see, as my vision was blurry and darkening at the edges.
Whew, this is getting long and it's supposed to be a PORT story...I'm getting there, I promise.
I get to the ER and they have to bring out a wheelchair and wheel me in. My blood pressure is something like 60 over 20 - really low. Now this is the funny part. The nurse who did the admitting thing and took my blood pressure was like, very calmly, "hmm, it's a little low...lets just take you back" He didn't take my temperature or ask me any questions like they normally do. Turns out I was dying, but we didn't know, lol
So the second I get back to my "exam room" it's like a scene from some movie...doctor's, nurses, everyone flying around in panic, screaming at each other, falling all over each other trying to take care of me. I calmly told them I had a port and that it was a double lumen and I told them what type and size needle to use - one nurse later told my aunt through tears that she couldn't believe I was even conscious because my blood pressure was so low. Oh yeah, and my heart rate was 165!!
Turns out I had a septic infection from that blockage in my bile duct, and if that first ER doc had paid attention to my labs, he would never have sent me home. Now I was in total organ failure, had to be intubated and the whole nine. By the way, you all remember Marky Mark Whalberg? His sister, a perfectly healthy woman, died from sepsis - it kills something like 60% of the people who get it (my numbers may be off here, but that is what I heard).
The point of the story is, if I didn't have this port I really believe they wouldn't have been able to save me. And because my port is a double lumen, they were able to access both sides at the same time and give me all the meds and fluids I needed. PLUS they could give them to me FAST because it's a big ol vein they're using when they use a port.
I used to be really upset that they gave me a double lumen without even asking me if that's what I wanted. I used to be really upset that it had to be accessed every month, because nobody told me that before I got the port, and since it was a double, it had to be accessed TWICE. Now, I'm more grateful than ever that I have this port. It saved my life. Period.
Of course, that little episode took a huge chunk of my lung function away forever. Grrr. But I'm glad to be here and had I not taken such good care of myself to that point and been as healthy as I was when it happened, I probably wouldn't be here either.
Moral of the story - CF Compliance GOOD, port GOOD, double-lumen port REALLY GOOD (especially if you have crappy veins - you never know when you might need IV access fast).
Let me preface by saying that I had my gallbladder removed in 2001 - I didn't have stones per se. They said it just looked like a bunch of sludge in there (eww).
Cut to 2003 - I started having pain again that felt exactly like the old gallbladder pains. I thought to myself "can you still have gallbladder issues if you don't have a gallbladder?" A quick search on the web and it turns out that YES, you can. I went to the ER that night because I was in so much pain.
They kept me there forEVER (if any of you have ever been to the ER when it wasn't "really" an emergency, you know what I'm talking about). They ran some blood tests and did an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that my bile duct looked inflamed. The doc said that I'd probably just passed a stone, even though my blood work showed that my white blood cell count was off the map (a sure sign of infection) and even though I told him I'd never really HAD stones before, just a lot of sludge. He sent me home with a prescription for Vicodin and told me to drink lots of water.
I went home (it was morning by this time), took a vicodin and went to sleep. I woke up a few hours later, and tried to get up. My vision was blurry and it felt difficult to move my legs. I'd been on vicodin before and never felt THIS loopy, but it was the only thing I could think of that would be causing these weird symptoms. I called my aunt and asked her to bring me some food because I just couldn't stand up long enough to make anything. I filled up a huge water bottle and went back to my room and proceeded to drink almost 2 liters of water, thinking maybe I was just dehydrated.
When my aunt arrived, I realized I hadn't peed in 24 hours. And I'd drank all that water. Something was NOT right. I told her we needed to go to the hospital. I got out of bed and fell to the floor. I could not stand at all now. She carried me to the bathroom so I could try to pee, but I couldn't...my kidneys were failing, but we didn't know that yet.
She called my uncle and he left work to come carry me to the car because I could not walk. I could barely see, as my vision was blurry and darkening at the edges.
Whew, this is getting long and it's supposed to be a PORT story...I'm getting there, I promise.
I get to the ER and they have to bring out a wheelchair and wheel me in. My blood pressure is something like 60 over 20 - really low. Now this is the funny part. The nurse who did the admitting thing and took my blood pressure was like, very calmly, "hmm, it's a little low...lets just take you back" He didn't take my temperature or ask me any questions like they normally do. Turns out I was dying, but we didn't know, lol
So the second I get back to my "exam room" it's like a scene from some movie...doctor's, nurses, everyone flying around in panic, screaming at each other, falling all over each other trying to take care of me. I calmly told them I had a port and that it was a double lumen and I told them what type and size needle to use - one nurse later told my aunt through tears that she couldn't believe I was even conscious because my blood pressure was so low. Oh yeah, and my heart rate was 165!!
Turns out I had a septic infection from that blockage in my bile duct, and if that first ER doc had paid attention to my labs, he would never have sent me home. Now I was in total organ failure, had to be intubated and the whole nine. By the way, you all remember Marky Mark Whalberg? His sister, a perfectly healthy woman, died from sepsis - it kills something like 60% of the people who get it (my numbers may be off here, but that is what I heard).
The point of the story is, if I didn't have this port I really believe they wouldn't have been able to save me. And because my port is a double lumen, they were able to access both sides at the same time and give me all the meds and fluids I needed. PLUS they could give them to me FAST because it's a big ol vein they're using when they use a port.
I used to be really upset that they gave me a double lumen without even asking me if that's what I wanted. I used to be really upset that it had to be accessed every month, because nobody told me that before I got the port, and since it was a double, it had to be accessed TWICE. Now, I'm more grateful than ever that I have this port. It saved my life. Period.
Of course, that little episode took a huge chunk of my lung function away forever. Grrr. But I'm glad to be here and had I not taken such good care of myself to that point and been as healthy as I was when it happened, I probably wouldn't be here either.
Moral of the story - CF Compliance GOOD, port GOOD, double-lumen port REALLY GOOD (especially if you have crappy veins - you never know when you might need IV access fast).