Friday the IV in Randy's right wrist was clogged, so they took it out and put a new one in on his left wrist. Unfortunately the next morning his hand was very swollen. So they took that line out and put one into his right forearm. But as the day wore on it really started to hurt. After dinner the nurse tried to find a suitable vein in his left arm but couldn't. A phlebotomist came in and checked his arms a long time before saying nope, she would only stick him if she was confident and she wasn't. So the order was put in for an ultrasound phlebotomist. And at 3:30 in the morning a guy came bustling in, wheeling a portable ultrasound machine and cheerily saying "Good morning! I'm going to turn on the light now!"
He was quite good and placed a needle in a deep vein in Randy's left forearm. Just in time Randy mentioned that he was allergic to the standard dressing and the nurse prepared the other kind. Then she removed the old IV, which really hurt. But Randy had a brand new IV, just in time for his nightly antibiotic drip.
30 minutes later another ultrasound phlebotomist came in and turned on the lights, ready to change his IV needle! No thanks, once was enough.
At one point I asked the nurse about the results of Randy's Saturday evening blood test. His ANC is up to 2,800! The doctor has warned us it will probably fluctuate up and down, but at least now there is some "up"!
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