The day went ok. He continues to have a cough. Phlegm is starting to look yellow.....He's not wheezing or cackling in his longs. Must get this full dosage in him. Appetite is terrible. Smaller meals but more often. Fluid intake is good today. Lots going in, lots going out. Bodily functions are good!
However, at 7:25pm as he got up from the dinner table, he noticed an air pocket in one of his IV's. The alarm should have beeped, but it didn't. Both Tony and my son immediately said it wasn't good. I pulled out the manual that Princess Margaret Hospital gave us and called them. Answering machine. I left a message. So we waited about 10 minutes and just kept watching this air pocket continue to travel towards the picc line. We decided to call 911 for an ambulance. As they walked in, Princess Margaret Hospital returned my call. They said the ambulance crew should be able to help us. However, as the theme goes with Tony, "never seen this before. Not sure what to do" OMG!!!!!!!! Because it's chemo, and a PICC line they weren't sure. So, they called a doctor. The air pocket was 6" long along the tube. First time for us too! Good thing Tony had a smile on his face. I guess looking back, it was comedic. We had two ambulance crews, and clearly one was superior and animated and dramatic. The other just read the manual and said, just clamp it and take him to the hospital. Guess what? After all that, that's what they did. Around 8:15 off we go. I followed in my car as they drove to Headwaters Hospital in Orangeville. It was a ghost town. Lights were actually out in one waiting area. NO ONE WAS THERE WAITING TO BE REGISTERED! NO ONE! QUICK SERVICE! Four nurses were touching, poking, prodding, discussing, and scratching their heads.....It was really funny. The head nurse actually proceeded to unscrew a part with his bare hands and I stopped him and said, "shouldn't you being were blue gloves? This is chemo?" He looked at the other nurse and she said, "yes, you should" .....The looks Tony and I exchanged were hilarious. Had to be there. I wasn't nervous at all because the tube was clamped and wouldn't go in him, but still needed to be dealt with. In the end they figured out how to disconnect it and let the air go through and reattached it.
The doctor then came in to do a look over and we were free to go home.
After all that, the amount of air in that size of tube really wasn't enough to do harm.
(I need to mention that in the menu of the IV machine, it said "air alarm off")
Live and learn.
12 more hours left till he gets disconnected.
Almost there Tony. Almost there.
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