A New Challenge

After Gerry's stomach surgery last year, he had to use a feeding at night to deliver enough nutrition to his altered body. They sent us home with a pump, boxes of food supplement, syringes, sterile water, tape, etc. We had been given a course on utilizing the pump, cleanliness, etc., etc. So, for almost every night since February 22 last year, I have connected the tube and everything that goes with it, and every morning, I have disconnected it. I said "almost every morning" since for periods of time, he tried to go without the feeding but could never quite eat enough to keep his tall, muscular body going.
We came home from the hospital yesterday after spending eleven days there. I now have a new challenges ahead of me. Gerry is on an antibiotic that is administered intravenously. Since he has a PICC line (this is a 42 cm. line that enters his body on his upper arm and is threaded through his circulatory system, terminating in his aorta), I, yes I said "I" am going to mix his drug, put it in an IV bag, hook it up to a pump, connect the tubing to his PICC line and run the drug into his body. I had training on how to do it. I know I can do it, but I do it today for the first time and there are a million little steps so I am a bit, er, tentative. Sister Carol is going to come out and assist with moral support.
I don't like having to do these things but I am glad I can do it so Gerry can be where he wants to be, HOME.
When he went to the hospital on February 16 he was on 20 mg of painkiller twice a day. He is now on 80 mg twice a day....not a good sign.