New nurse in BMT clinic

The BMT clinic did not seem too busy when I got there this morning, but I waited quite awhile to have my vitals taken and then there was some confusion about whether I should have blood drawn. The nurses aids said no blood because it was day eight, but Elaine, who installed the line in my port and then drew blood, insisted that they consult the computer and print an order to send with the blood, which was finally done. I then waited for a chair to be available in the infusion room. When the chair was available the new nurse, Gretchen, hooked up the Aredia infusion line and said that it would be a 4-hour infusion; she came back a little later to say that the report on the blood work showed that the infusion time could be reduced to 2 hours and changed the settings on the pump, which validated Elaine's decision to draw blood.


Gretchen returned some time later with a small notebook and began asking questions about my health and general well being, something other nurses have not done. While we were talking she noticed that my left hand was cramping possibly because I had been holding a magazine with it. She became concerned about the cramping and when it seemed that it may have begun about the time that she had increased the flow rate of the Aredia she slowed the rate down and when that did not change the frequency of the cramping after another ten minutes or so she changed the flow rate again and guessed that the cramping may have been some sort of response to the muscular strain in the left side of my back which I have had since I swept the upper driveway two or three weeks ago. These changes resulted in a 3-hour stay hooked to the Aredia infusion line. I went to the Pharmacy to pick up the prescriptions that I had given to Jennifer and found that Humana would not allow one of them to be filled before the 28th and the Pharmacy will be closed on the 4th of July my next appointment date. My frustration with Humana continues; I will have to make another trip before then or visit a nearby pharmacy and have them call the Univ. of Utah Pharmacy for the prescription.


Emma is well pleased with the medication prescribed by Dr. Curtis: Meloxicam, generic for Mobic. Dr. Curtis said that it is a much stronger analgesic than over the counter drugs such as Tylenol, Advil, etc. It allows her complete use of her leg and she is able to do almost anything that she wishes or wants to do. She is outside now washing grond floor windows and has done quite a bit of gardening.