Skip to main content

Things I Wish We Had Known or Knew We Needed #1

I have a list of things I wish we had known or knew we needed when people asked how they could help.
This will be the first one.

I know many people are diagnosed with cancer, start treatments and live a modified life, that somewhat resembles their normal life and routine.
One of the things we learned and I had no idea though my sister and Mother had breast cancer and a family friend had throat cancer was that some types of cancer, this being one of them, are a series of scheduled medical procedures and doctors visits mixed in with emergency dashes to the hospital resulting in days inpatient, sometimes wondering if this was the end of the road.

With that in mind.
One of the caregiver tips I would recommend is get a bicycle basket, the kind you attach to handlebars. The kind that can attach with a simple over the bar hook. 

This is for the IV pole. 

Every time Mathew went to go to the restroom, he needed the IV unplugged (often quickly) and most times I had to help maneuver it into the room for him because he was using a walker or unsteady on his feet. Because the tumor impacted his abdomen, he liked to have his phone and a book available. Those things could have been slipped into the basket as the IV was unplugged.
A small thing, but it would have made a big difference.
Mathew spent more days inpatient then he did at home.

As soon as I have a chance I will take one of these baskets and see how it works.

*****You may be tempted to make your own pouch, but remember you want something that can easily be wiped down with sanitizer before, during and after the hospital stay.




Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

About this Blog, A Journey Through Sarcoma

Confections for Cats, A Journey through Sarcoma is a chronicle of my son's journey through Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Sarcoma. It is intended to educate and inspire by using Mathew’s thoughts and feelings, dreams and fears through a variety of mediums; art, music, and writing. Through factual experience, what we learned and what we wish we had known. Mathew’s desire was to give meaning to his journey and in the process help anyone else on a similar path. The last possible explanation in my mind for my son’s health problems was cancer. Even the words “the scan shows a large mass” didn’t lead me to conclude cancer and when the cancer diagnosis was confirmed, I still wasn’t prepared. My Mother is a breast cancer survivor and my sister Elizabeth passed away three years after her breast cancer diagnosis. I thought I knew what cancer treatment and living with cancer looked like, but none of us could imagine or be prepared for how all semblance of routine and normalcy had alre...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thoracentesis to Remove Fluid on the Lung

2-28-15   From the Notebook Fluid on right side of lung Needs to be drained, done from the back Can be done bedside Send out for testing CAUSE? could be a bodily reaction - most likely this because fluid wasn’t present when he arrived or could be tumor has entered the lung. Mathew had been complaining about his right shoulder hurting (this was from the fluid on his lung). He thought it was from the previous October when he was taken by ambulance from work when they thought he was having seizures. He wondered if the EMT's had hurt his shoulder when restraining him. He will reference this in his music and writing. A local oncologist is brought in who says he will be starting Mathew’s treatment. More news on the diagnosis: -Neg for lymphoma -not traditional carcinoma -uncommon sarcoma -pancreas -looking for rare cancers Again my ignorance, I thought that a rare cancer would get more results. Backward thinking. Here is a photo of t...
Post a Comment
Read more

When a Cancer Patient Has a Medical Emergency

3 Days in the DRC, Part 1 If you haven’t read my first post about the DRC at Moffitt and how it works, since Moffitt does not have an ER, you can read about it here.  https://confectionsforcats.blogspot.com/2018/04/neutropenic-fever-after-ie-chemo-and.html In summary, the DRC is where an existing Moffitt patient is directed to go if they have a medical emergency.  Usually, we would be there a few hours or overnight (since we arrived at midnight or shortly afterward) until they had a room for Mathew on the ward. This particular visit Mathew stayed in the DRC three days. As mentioned in my other post, the DRC has maybe two rooms with a bathroom; otherwise, one bathroom for about a dozen patients. In Mathew’s case, a patient with a lowered immune system.  This time Mathew was in the room furthest from the bathroom.  When inpatient, we had a routine for getting him to the bathroom. First, he needed the IV unplugged (often quickly) and most times, I ...
Post a Comment
Read more