Sunday, May 22, 2011

'The Problem'

When my dad went to pick Averi up this morning and announced that, "we might have a problem," I came sprinting.  You never know what that means with Averi, but this time it meant POOP.  Luckily she had scooted herself into the kitchen because 'the problem' was in piles all over the floor.

It took 2 people to strip her down and keep her hands out of the mess.  I might have said this before, but it is really hard to thoroughly clean a person without being able to put them in water.  As I wiped her down over and over again with wipes, I realized that 'the problem' had just gotten scary.  Her central line ports were covered in poop as well.

I was able to clean one of them off but the poop had gotten pushed way under the cap on the other line and I couldn't get it out.  The only solution was to change the caps on the lines and clean underneath them.  I have seen this done many many times (every three days when inpatient) but actually doing it myself was totally different.

I got out all my sterile supplies, put on my sterile gloves, and got to work while my mom handed me many many alcohol wipes.  Normally no one cleans the end of the port when the cap is off because the risk of wiping something into the port is too high, but I didn't have that option, this port needed to be cleaned...and fast.

It took what seemed like forever and I was dripping sweat by the end of it, but I got those ports cleaned and those caps changed.  Thankfully, Averi is used to all these medical shenanigans by now and does an awesome job holding still.

Now, the only thing left to do is wait and make sure she doesn't get sick...no pressure.

5 comments:

Gillian Jones said...

Tiffany - you are amazing!! I should spend some clinical hours with you trying to learn everything that you've learned!

Cindy said...

Oh my gosh, SO scary! Glad your mom was there to help.

Lauren in GA said...

Good Heavens!!!!! I am so glad your parents were there. It's like you had a surgical assistant.

I love how your Dad was calm. I would have been shreiking.

Tina said...

Nice job Momma! BTW How was there poop all over, was she naked?

Frances said...

Okay I know I am not one of your "normal" friends...but from my perspective this story was so funny. Okay I realize the worries are not to humurous at all but I kind of group this story with mirrors and balloons that break in to the house. Overcoming fear followed by that sense of "you won't believe what just happened." Hope all is well. Miss seeing you.