Drain RELIEF!

Yesterday I went to the Hospital for my standard pre-chemo appointment with my oncologist. We had a few things to discuss including going back to work (more on that later this week), anti-nausea medications and my stupid painful drain. On the going back to work front, my doctor said she would fully support me going back. I guess it's not something I have discussed here on the blog but it's definitely something I've been considering for some time now. I need something interesting to do that gets me out of the house and provides a week-to-week focus for myself and the family that is NOT cancer related. Right now our lives seem to be focused around chemo days and good weeks and bad weeks. It would be nice to think of those days as work days and non-work days instead.

On the anti-nausea front I was able to get a prescription for another anti-nausea drug called Emend. It is supposed to work wonders and was recommended to me by Daryl. I guess he had good success with it and never suffered any nausea. I hope I have similar success.

On the drain front we had a major breakthrough yesterday. As you know I have been having tremendous trouble with my drain at the site where it enters my skin. Up until now it has been stitched in place using a very coarse fishing-line-like suture. In my layman's opinion, the pain is caused by the rubbing of these sutures on my raw flesh. The chemotherapy I'm on slows healing and so the sutures cut through the skin which can't heal and results in constant pain. Every medical professional I've talked to thus far has been hesitant to remove the stitches for two reasons: 1) JP drains are always stitched to the skin to hold them in place and 2) if you take the stitches out, what will hold the drain in place? Well I went to visit my ET (ostomy) nurse yesterday and she had a solution. Her office is on the 10th floor and she deals a lot with drains. Unlike the doctors who just put drains in and never have to deal with problems or issues over the long haul, the nurses on unit 102 deal with drains day in and day out and have real hands on experience on dealing with all the problems associated with them. So Julie (my ostomy nurse) suggested we take the stitches out right then and there and try a specially designed adhesive drain anchor to hold the drain in place. She said they are rarely used for JP drains but that's most likely because JP drains usually only stay in for a week or 10 days, not 5 months like mine. So we took the stitches out and put the anchor in place. It required some adjustment but 24 hours later I can report absolutely no pain! It's a tremendous relief to be able to walk and bend without pain. I'm even contemplating getting out for a run (obviously I will wait a few days to make sure that the new anchor can hold the drain in place adequately). Yahoo!

So, thanks Julie for making my day and taking away the pain. Solving the problem with practical solutions is always more effective than throwing medication at it and covering it up.

Today is chemo day so that sucks but I'm keen to see if my new anti-nausea drug works. Stay tuned.