Pills, shots and ointments. Oh my.

"Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity." - Hippocrates

The first thing that you have to get worked out is a plan for all the medications your child will need to take.  Each case is different but all will require an arsenal of medications. Some over the counter and others pharmacy grade. Tucker's would change monthly. Some stay the same but others drop off the list as we enter new phases of treatment.  Each month would end with unused prescriptions.  The first thing I did was set up a medication station in my kitchen to keep everything organized.

Luckily Tucker is good at taking pill as compared to most kids.  He started out by taking them with apple sauce until he grew tired of the taste of it.  Then he moved on to gogurts. Now he just swallows them with a drink.  Some pills you can cut in half. Some you can crush but some you can't because they are time release. I found that it was a good idea to get an actual pill cutter and crusher to do the job. This will prevent you from loosing  any of the medication by trying to do it with a butter knife or two spoons.

I was surprised at how much of his treatment was left up to me.  The last thing I wanted to do was get it wrong. So I had to get over my fears quickly and learn how to become a home nurse.  I had to learn to give him shots, test blood sugar and how to flush his portacath after preparing and administering his TPN (IV Nutrition).  Keep track of his medication and how often and when he had to take them.  I went to Staples and got a datebook to help me keep it all straight.  I chose one with lots of room to keep track of and mark off medications as I dispensed them. Write reminders, questions, clinic visits and anything else that came up.

(Example of my datebook)

I remember being at home after spending a few weeks in the hospital. I woke suddenly in the middle of the night. I forgot something. What? I laid there in bed and racked my brain. What was it? I found myself standing in the middle of my kitchen going over in my head what medicines I had given Tucker that day and when. I couldn't put my finger on it, so I walked over to my medication station and looked at my datebook.  Everything had a check mark. According to my records I hadn't forgotten anything so I went back to bed, thankful for my system and the piece of mind.