January 20, 2010: Mediport Comes Out!
After two and a half years of carpenter nail- thick needles, countless blood draws and line flushes, Haley’s mediport is finally out! After having quality time with Auntie Lori, Uncle Lenny, Sam, Jonah, and Alex, we arrive at Sloan even before the desk attendants do. There were two other patients there, also waiting for procedures. But as bad as it is to deny your already thin kid any food or drink for the 8 hours prior, this is one place that being the youngest matters most: because the kids are fasting, usually the youngest ones go first. Had there been a 1 year old, he or she would have gone first, pushing back Haley. At that time, the playroom wasn’t open, so promised Haley as soon as she was done with the doctors, we could play for as long as she wants. And aftter two hours, and successful procedure, the first thing Haley wanted to do was ride her favorite green tractor in the playroom. Problem is that the anesthesia didn’t wear off yet, so her ability to stay on the tractor, let alone drive, or even keeping up her own head, but she was not going to be denied the pleasure of the sloan playroom. And even when an improv group ran a session in the playroom for the other kids, still woozy from the anesthesia, Haley couldn’t resist trying to twirl across the make-shift like a ballerina along with the other kids. That playroom was the perfect antidote for what she went through. As Haley gets better slowly, you forget things, like without the mediport, finding a vein for an IV always proved difficult, and this trip brought that all back into sharp focus.
But despite future sad interactions with the phlebotomist, and although she’s in a lot of pain right now (they reopen the first incision when they inserted the mediport, so it’s often through scar tissue), and more so since she’s allergic to a lot of painkillers, it is a happy day. No more mediport means the doctors are confident in her success thus far. No more mediport means no more rushing to hospital anytime she has a fever over 99.5. No more mediport means one less artificial orifice. No more mediport means no foreseen ongoing medication. It’s most definitely a happy day.
Hope you enjoy the latest photos (most are in the “long climb out”) album. Have a look!
