Infusion pumps–comments?
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June 12, 2009 at 11:38 am
Hi All,
My husband has been getting IVIG for the past year and a half at a big hospital downtown that requires a long commute for him. Yesterday was his first day of getting IVIG at our local small hospital. They used an infusion pump, and all seemed to go well. He asked me to post and ask about the use of infusion pumps. The big hospital never used the pump, and he had asked them about that as he attended a conference on CIDP and one of the lecturers said they never give IVIG without an infusion pump. The big hospital said they never heard of the pump being used for IVIG. So he was quite surprised that the small town hospital is using one. He wonders what people have to say about infusion pumps i.e. pro’s and con’s, things to watch for etc.
Thanks for any input you may have.
Laurel -
June 12, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Laurel,
Mine is always done with the pump. Which hospital is it that doesn’t use one?
VGH or St Pauls? Where is he now getting IVIG?
Rhonda
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June 12, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Hi Rhonda,
He was getting it at VGH. Now he is at Peace Arch in White Rock. So far, he is finding the Peace Arch staff very nice and helpful. VGH staff were wonderful to him over the past year and a half. But it is interesting they seem to be a little more geared to the IVIG at Peace Arch in a sense i.e. they gave him a form to be filled out and sent to the blood bank if he has any untoward reactions to the IVIG and the use of the pump–never saw such a form at VGH. I was apprehensive when he did the switch as my husband is a real creature of habit and doesn’t make changes well, but he came home yesterday happy as a clam. He wasn’t frapped from the drive, and he had a good day with the day care unit. We’ll see what day two brings.
Laurel -
June 12, 2009 at 2:38 pm
Our pump recently broke and the nurse had to manually count the drips to set it. I was nervous as I did not see how it would be as accurate as a pump, everything went fine, however the infusion was a bit faster than when we do use the pump, by about a half hour, so I guess there is room for some error. If anything, I would think the pump would be a pro instead of a con since each infusion rate is set. It also alarms when there is air in the line. On the other hand, gravity was all they had in the old days:) One con would be the beeping noise if there is air in the line or whatever. When Kevie first started infusions at the hospital, he wanted to sleep and it would wake him up when the pump beeped. Hope day two goes well, have a nice weekend!
Dawn Kevies mom -
June 12, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Thanks Dawn. I am pleased to read how well Kevie is doing these days. What a good mom you are. Hubby should be home in the next hour–so I will hear the full report of day two.
Laurel -
June 12, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Hubby survived day two using the infusion pump very nicely. He actually thinks he feels better than normal having had the pump the last two days. That makes sense to me since it is much less hit and miss with the dosage going in. But I do think I read somewhere that there are some negatives to the infusion pumps, but I can’t find the article so if anyone knows I would appreciate the info. He really enjoyed the nurses in the day care–lots of good humour and compassion.
Laurel -
June 13, 2009 at 2:36 am
Laurel,
I am glad that things are working out for your hubby going to Peace Arch.
The pump also helps if the IVIG gets too many bubbles cause it will stop and beep alerting the staff to come check it out.
I bet he is happy he doesn’t have to drive into the rat race anymore!
I used to get my IVIG in Prince George hospital but now switched to Vanderhoof hospital. Now it is a 45 minute commute on the highway instead of 2 hours each way.
I now leave in the morning and I am home in my own bed by suppertime! 😀
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June 13, 2009 at 8:35 am
How do you know if they are using a pump or not? Sometimes when Selah gets ivig they use the hanging iv bag and sometimes it comes up with the tube thing and they put it in the arm thing that pushes it left to right. I might be wrong, but it seems like the flush afterwards seems longer with the bag as they have to flush all the medication that is in the line and the line is longer with the bag. One time with the bag, the nurse punch the hole wrong and it went all over the flloor. That was a long day.
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June 15, 2009 at 2:08 am
If you follow this link it will show you a picture of an infusion pump.
This is very similar to the one that my hospital uses.
Hope this helps.
Rhonda
[url]http://www.universalmedicalinc.com/pedigo-infusion-pump-stand/detail/P-1080-6_4545[/url]
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June 16, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Laurel, Hi-tell hubby I have received my ivig both with a pump and without-I now get it at home without a pump but my RN watches it like a hawk and I haven’t had any problems.
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June 16, 2009 at 6:40 pm
The first 4 years I had IVIG it was without a pump. We counted drips.
I think I still remember 11 years later. 10 drops 30 ml ph, 20 drops 60 ml and finally leveled off at 40 drops for 120 ml per hour.
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