03/17/2013:

11:30: I wake up and get out of bed.  As usual, I let Buster out and then prepare myself for the vaynco administration.

11:45: I pull the vaynco medicine ball out of the fridge for it to warm up for an hour.  I sit in the lazy boy and turn on the TV.  I get out my glucose and take my blood sugar, 133. I then take out my laptop and start doing a few things on it, while my ball warms up.

12:30: I hook up my vaynco ball to my port and let it start pumping.

1:00: My dad comes in with a new toy, a battery operated Ryobi blower.  The reason he got this was because of the interchangeability of the batteries.  We have a few other power tools around the house that are battery operated, but each one takes its own battery, and that’s a pain trying to find the right battery and the right charger for the right power tool that you want to use.  From now on all cordless products will be Ryobi so that the battery is the same across all cordless devices.  I unbox it, and put the battery on the charger and just snap the blower to the tubing to refine the direction of the air coming out the blower.

1:30: I unhook the vaynco ball.

1:35: i start taking off the adhesive patch that is holding my needle into my port.

1:45: I pull the access needle out of the port in my chest.  My home health nurse will be coming later today to put a new needle in.

2:00: I see that the battery is done charging for the blower.  I take the battery outside and hook it up to the blower and blow off a little bit of the patio with it.  Works really well!  I then move a plastic chair out on the back grass and watch my dad as he plants some vegetables in the garden.  I make sure that the chair is in the shade after getting some very minor sun burn yesterday.  My skin is a little whiter than what it used to be from being inside all the time with my chemo treatments and staying inside when at home.

4:00: We head back inside.

4:30: My dad throws some steaks on the pit.  I apply the lidocane cream over the port area so that it will be ready when the home health nurse comes over to re-access my port and stab me again with the new needle.

5:30: The steaks are done, supper time.

6:15: I am stuffed.  I call up the home health nurse to find out when she will be coming again to change out the needle.

7:30: The home health nurse calls me back and tells me she will be here in about 30 minutes.

8:00: The home health nurse shows up and first removes the saran wrap and cleans up the lidocane cream that I have rubbed in over the port area.  She then preps with sterile gloves, then flushes the new needle, then cleans the area of my chest where the port is, then takes the needle and access the port.  She then puts the new adhesive patch over the port area.  I am good to go for another 3 days with this needle.

8:20: The nurse finishes up and then she is on her way.

9:00: I hook up my vaynco medicine ball and start my infusion.

10:00: I am done my infusion.

10:15: I get bath.  With the port being accessed I can’t get it wet because the adhesive bandage will start coming off and if it does, then I the whole needle needs to be removed, the area cleaned again and a new needle to re-access the port.

11:15: I get out the bath, and head to bed.

11:30: ZzZzZzZzZ. I am sleeping…  Got to be at the Tulane for 8:30: tomorrow morning.

11:59: Another day done and gone!