Oh, the Things He Puts Me Through!

Today, while I was on my lunch break and making a sandwich, Greg decided to let the dogs out.  Now, mind you, he had chemo on Tuesday, so he has his battery pack pump attached to him.



That "pack" is on the left side (on his hip) in this picture is filled with a chemotherapy drug called 5FU and it has to be given 24/7 over a five day period.  That means that here is a tube that runs from that pack to the PICC line in his right arm.  You need to be careful with this, as you don't want to somehow yank it out, as that would be bad.  Very, very bad.

Anyway, he was hooking Minnow on his rope (he's a jerk and runs into the road (Minnow, not Greg!), which is why he only has one eye and hip problems!).  Minnow started running outside, and Greg realized that he hooked it through his chemo line!  Greg started hollering in a way that scared the crap out of me, and I started running to him, realizing what was going on.  We managed to get Minnow to stop so we could take his rope off and untangle him from Greg's chemo line.  Whew!  That could have been a BIG problem!   Yea, he likes to scare the daylights out of me and keep me on my toes!  




Because Greg wasn't able to get this pack until Tuesday, I will have to disconnect him on Saturday, because the Cancer Center is closed on the weekends.  That meant I had to go with him to the Cancer Center today so they could show me what to do to disconnect him.

His short term memory is so bad right now that there's no way he would have been able to tell me what needed to be done.  That's what's known as "chemo brain."  It is a real thing, and it really, really happens!  So, here is the "stuff" we were sent home with:

That's a bio hazard bag, some gloves, some tape (to tape up his PICC line), some alcohol wipes, a new "connector" for his PICC line and a couple syringes of sodium chloride to flush out his PICC line.  The nurse kept asking if I was OK with this.  She has no idea what I had to do for Greg during his transplant!  This is nothing!

Here's a close-up of the battery pack that is giving him the chemo.  That's what's in that pack that he has on his waist in the other picture.  He can also wear this around his neck.  Depending on what he's doing will depend on how he wears this.  Fortunately, it's only for five days once a month, or it would really be a pain in the butt!   










You've seen the pictures of him getting his radiation mask made, but we've never done anything else with regard to his radiation. Seeing as I was with him today, he wanted me to take some video.  I started with my phone upright and then switched it to landscape, but I would have been better off keeping it upright.  So, I apologize for it not being the best!  We have two videos, one as he was getting set up and one when he was being taken out. There's nothing scary about them, but it may affect you in ways you didn't think it would (I know it did me!)! 

Here's the first one, where they are getting him ready.  That thing he's holding in his hand is his chemo battery pack. 

And here's the second one, when he was all done (5 minutes later).  

I have to say again, he has gone through so much, and it just blows my mind at his attitude.  I really don't know how he does it.  He is certainly blessed!  

Blessings to everyone!  

Julie 

If you wish to help with Greg's travel expenses while he is unable to work just go to his Go Fund me.