{"id":7870,"date":"2010-05-27T00:34:34","date_gmt":"2010-05-27T04:34:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=7870"},"modified":"2015-12-27T15:47:26","modified_gmt":"2015-12-27T20:47:26","slug":"the-joy-of-taking-a-shower-using-both-hands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=7870","title":{"rendered":"The Joy of Taking a Shower Using Both Hands"},"content":{"rendered":"

Throughout my participation in the Prot\u00e9g\u00e9 Encore study, people have been asking me what I\u2019ve liked or hated about the experience.\u00a0 I must say, in all truthfulness, that it has been both my utmost joy and my deepest pain to be limited to the use of one hand in the shower.\u00a0 The study requires daily infusions and blood draws, you see, and the nursing staff is nice enough to keep an IV port in my arm so that I don\u2019t have to be picked time and time again each visit. \u00a0The IV port consists of an inch-long twist-off nozzle that connects to a super thin tube called a catheter inserted into a major vein between my wrist and elbow.\u00a0 When I come into the hospital, the nurse twists another nozzle into my twist-off nozzle to hook the IV line into my port so that the fluids can flow in and blood can be drawn out.\u00a0 The nurse is then able to switch between saline solution that drips from a large bag on the IV pole and the treatment drug, called teplizumab, which comes in a tiny bag.\u00a0 Having the IV port makes everything so much easier and more sanitary, of course, but it also means that I spend a significant amount of time maintaining the tiny tube coming out of my forearm.\u00a0\u00a0 It needs to be flushed every eight hours with saline solution that I take home in twist-on syringes and it\u2019s not supposed to get wet and it could rip out of my arm if it gets caught on something and it could literally burst out of my vein if I push with too great of pressure when, for instance, I get out of bed.\u00a0 Lovely, I know.\u00a0 It really isn\u2019t all that bad, though.\u00a0 I get to wear a cool Avril Lavigne (or rolling pin) sleeve over the whole set-up and I\u2019ve gotten to where I don\u2019t even notice it when I\u2019m sleeping.\u00a0 I don\u2019t notice it much of the time, really\u2026 EXCEPT for when I need to take a shower.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Close-up of my IV port<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019ve had a broken limb or a cast of any kind, you will be able to fully relate to this experience.\u00a0 People advised me with all the different ways they<\/em> bathed in casts\u2014intricate procedures involving Saran Wrap, rubberbands, athletic tape, and plastic grocery bags\u2014but none of these methods has proven successful.\u00a0 I always end up with a soggy bandage and a sensory-related gag reflex check.\u00a0 Then, my sister said something genius:\u00a0 \u201cWhy don\u2019t you just not use that hand?\u201d\u00a0 Hmmmm!\u00a0 Noted! \u00a0My current system has been to wrap the bandage around the IV port, the Saran Wrap around the bandage, and then to force myself to hold on to the shower door with that hand and not use it.\u00a0 Ah, problem solved\u2026 IF YOU KNOW HOW TO ONLY USE ONE HAND IN THE SHOWER!\u00a0 And I, sadly, did not.\u00a0 But I\u2019m learning!\u00a0 The key, for me, is to be able to rub shampoo into your hair with only five fingers and to rinse it in the same manner.\u00a0 If this seems easy to you, then go ahead and try it.\u00a0 See how satisfactory your showering experience is.\u00a0 It\u2019s taking practice, but I think it\u2019s coming.\u00a0 I can honestly say that this has been the most inconvenient part of the Prot\u00e9g\u00e9 Encore study so far, and I feel quite thankful for that.\u00a0 There are far worse things we can experience in life than renewed appreciation for appendages.<\/p>\n

Next up:\u00a0 more information about what I\u2019m actually doing here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":53098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1501],"tags":[409,803],"yoast_head":"\nTeplizumab in an IV: Showering With One Hand<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"in the Prot\u00e9g\u00e9 Encore study, people have been asking me what I\u2019ve liked or hated about the experience...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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