I hate to say "I told you so" but...

Remember the other day when I said that I was not comfortable with the way the nurses handled Michael's port when we were in the Emergency Room on Saturday? Well, this morning I was replaying the whole ordeal in my head and I thought, "They didn't flush Michael's port with Heparin before they removed his needle." I called Jeff and asked him if he remembered the nurses giving Michael Heparin and he said he didn't. (Heparin is a blood thinner which is injected into his port before they remove the needle to prevent clotting and to keep it working correctly.)

So, I called Syracuse and talked to Jen, our nurse, and asked her if it was a big deal if they didn't use Heparin and she said it was. Then Jen called our local ER and asked them to check Michael's records to verify if they gave Michael Heparin or not -and they didn't. So - off to Syracuse we went. Jen accessed Michael's port (perfectly). She was able to draw a clot out of the it so I am really glad we made the trip to Syracuse. Then she flushed it well with saline and Heparin and we were back on our way home.

Unfortunately, Michael had to miss most of the 100th Day of School Celebration at school. But, I have to admit that my mind is a lot more at ease tonight knowing that his port was checked by someone that works with children's port-a-caths everyday, all day. I will keep everyone posted of any new developments. Please keep Michael in your thoughts and prayers, JoAnne.