February 6, 2024

1 Year +351

Day 14

4 days into 14. The addition of a muscle relaxer yesterday has caused pretty intense sleepiness . Tatum lost two IV’s yesterday and another today. Shes reacting to the morphine going into her peripheral IV that is attached to her pca. Of course they haven’t seen this quite like this before. She develops a red streak, burning and line of hives that follows the vein up her arm. Then the vessel starts leaking and she loses the access. Its bizarre. But shes a hard poke, so shes has the equivalent of 6 new IV starts in two days. Theyre giving benadryl to prevent any type of reaction. The combination of muscle relaxer and benadryl are at least bringing some sleep at night.

Tate got new meds put into her IT pump today. The pump is a hockey puck sized metal casing with the mechanics and a reservoir inside it. Theres a diaphragm on top (like a chest port) that is accessed through the skin with a long needle. They can pull out and add liquid medication through the needle. They then place a “remote” on top of it that communicates through bluetooth with the pump. An ipad is used by Tates Dr. to program. We will go home with the remote and Tate can give herself a pain bolus through the remote. Technology at its finest! Truly mind blowing (and a bit overwhelming) to know how this all works. Tate learned today that they placed the largest pump due to the amount of medication she would be needing. This allows her to go longer between “refills.” Larger pump = Larger bump. Not a teens dream. But you climb through the hard stuff to get to the good stuff. We are hoping for her to “feel” the results of the change tomorrow.

#gritandgrace

#tatestribe

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February 5, 2024