The portability and discreteness of the setup means that I can go to the movies, or shopping, or for long drives - basically live my life - without having to plan long chunks of time at home (or at our friend's house) in bed. It's also awesome that I don't have to turn my friend's home into a hospital room.
CADD INFUSION PUMP PORTABLE
We are going to be staying with a family friend while we're in California, and it's nice to know that I don't have to have a portable IV pole shipped, and that I don't have to spend four hours at a time hooked up to a gravity line. I'll only be running it a few hours a day, so hopefully the batteries will hold out a bit longer. If it's run continually, the batteries need to be replaced daily. The pump runs on AA batteries that Pharmacare (my home nursing and supply company) provides. It's also discrete- besides the tubing that runs out of a side pocket, you can't tell by looking at it that there's a medical device inside. It's very quiet- I'm running a liter right now and I can't hear the motor over the music I'm playing. The whole thing weighs around five pounds when it has a liter in it, and it has adjustable straps, so it's pretty comfortable to walk around with. The pump comes with a backpack (pictured below) that has special, labeled pockets inside to hold tubing, supplies, and the pump.
CADD INFUSION PUMP HOW TO
My home-care nurse came over to my house a few days ago to train me on how to use it, and it seems to be pretty intuitive after the first time, especially if you're already used to running fluids the old-fashioned way. The bag has to be pre-primed, which means you have to squeeze all the air out of the saline bag before you hook up. The tubing is different, and includes a cartridge with a filter that hooks into the pump. Today is my first day experimenting with the set-up, which is different from the regular, old-school pump. I was using a regular IV pump and pole, but technology keeps getting better, and a few days ago I was switched over to a portable, much smaller and lighter pump, the CADD SOLIS VIP (pictured below). I've had a PICC line off and on for the last few years, and I run a liter or two of saline a day to increase my blood volume and relieve symptoms. The dysautonomia causes chronic dehydration, low blood volume, tachychardia, fainting, and a host of other issues. I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which causes dysautonomia, and the big-wig docs at Stanford think I have a cerebral spinal fluid leak due to weak connective tissue in my dura, which is the covering that surrounds the spine. Later this month, my husband and I will be traveling from our home in Hawaii to Stanford for a consultation and medical procedure. Please see below for her post and thank you Alice for sharing your tips! We thought this was super helpful for our community and she agreed to share it with our broader community.
Recently, Alice reached out to share some tips she had learned while preparing to travel with her PICC line.
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