Update: I'm Headed to Ida Grove for IVs in August

[Dan_M]

Sharon, BTW, I noticed the town where you live, and I believe that you are not far from Des Moines? My avatar is a picture of my son Ryan that we took in Des Moines just a few weeks ago on our way to Ida Grove! What a beautiful city Des Moines is! I was very impressed with all the parks and how clean the streets were. When we were pulling into our hotel's driveway, we saw a very large office park across the street, with a huge pond and there were swans swimming in the pond. So after we checked into the hotel we walked over to this park and that picture is Ryan feeding some baby ducks that came ashore to check us out and see what we were up to. You can see the mama duck standing right behind her babies. She trusted Ryan more than she trusted those Canadian Geese you can see in the background. 😉  She stood guard behind her chicks the whole time, and even though she was a fraction of the size of the geese, they didn't mess with her. They hissed at her a few times, but she just shot them a look and they backed off. It was hilarious.   😀  If you get into Des Moines much, you probably even know the park and the pond that I'm talking about.

[sjess]

Hi Dan,

Yes, I have been in Des Moines quite a bit. I actually grew up in West Des Moines from the time I was 9 yrs old until I married and moved to my husband's home town of Guthrie Center. Boy was that a change moving from the city to the country.

Where were you at in DM? They really have worked at fixing up the city and making it nice. I'm glad you had a favorable impression of the city. I don't get to DM much anymore. Maybe again when the AP starts working. It is just a real struggle to do things right now. I used to have to make a trip to DM every week! 😉  I am getting adjusted to country life, but I still like all the wonderful things the city has to offer. The Jersey Boys are going to be in town and I would have loved to go see that show. They have had some other Broadway shows too. And movies and malls and restaurants and all that fun stuff 🙂

How is Ryan after his treatment?

Sharon

[julieann]

New to the forum — we are in Ida Grove this week – 1st time treatments for my husband – seeing Dr. S. Wonderful man – staff- towns people – and we are staying at the Delux Motel – 1 mile out of town and it is GREAT! Clean – nice people  – fridge – microwave – quiet and peaceful – great place to be to come between treatments and 'heal'.:cool:

[Maz]

[user=2543]julieann[/user] wrote:

New to the forum — we are in Ida Grove this week

 

Julieann, so nice to meet you and welcome to the RBF forum! 🙂 Do hope it won't be long till your hubby is well on his road back.

Peace, Maz

[sjess]

New Questions–

How did you guys handle Friday when you had to be out of the motel by 11am? Did you check out and then hang around Ida Grove until your last infusion Friday afternoon? When did you usually do your infusions? Did they schedule you in or could you come whenever you wanted?

Thanks, Sharon

Welcome julieann! 😀

[julieann]

They are willing to work with us – we've done infusions usually around 9:30-10:30 in the morning and 5-6p.m. – we started on Wed morning and will be done Sunday around dinner hour – they don't have a cleaning crew in on Sunday here – very quiet place – so we can let them know after the infusion SUnday morning if we want to stay yet Sunday night or head home after the 2nd infusion.  We only live 2 1/2 hours away — but hubby does not travel real well.  What we saved on price between this motel and the Super 8, we can stay an extra night if we need to.

 

[Kim]

Hi julieann, and welcome to the Roadback forum.  Thanks for introducing yourself and wishing you and your husband all the best with the treatments.

Sharon, also wishing you all the best with your IVs.  We'll be anxious to hear how you're doing, and trust me, you'll have lots of time for posting, just not a lot to do in tiny little Ida Grove. 😉  At least you'll be there in nice weather and can be outside.  I went in the winter which was brutal and really wanted to just walk around to metabolize some of the antibiotics through my body, but it was too cold.  As Dan said, there is a nice park right there with a walking path, and even if you're not up for a walk you could at least go sit on a bench and get out of the hotel room.

You asked about when you do your infusions, and others have been more recently than I have so should correct me if things have changed.  They told me to come anytime I wanted (no appt), just to leave 6 hrs in between the two infusions.  My veins were not good and could not handle the IV the way the others could so they had to slow down my drip by using a pump.  The RA people were in and out in 20 minutes and mine took almost an hour, so be sure and speak up if it's painful or burning.  My veins could also not handle keeping the port in one site all week so I had to have a new butterfly each time. :crying:  It turned out to be a long week, but so worth it.  Oh, drink lots of water.

Take care…..kim

[Dan_M]

[user=40]Kim[/user] wrote:

You asked about when you do your infusions, and others have been more recently than I have so should correct me if things have changed.  They told me to come anytime I wanted (no appt), just to leave 6 hrs in between the two infusions. 

No, nothing has changed. It's still come-and-go as you please just leave 6 hours in between. So, on your last day, you could get your infusion first thing in the AM, then go back to your room and pack and check out, grab some lunch or brunch, and your “hanging around time” before your final infursion would be minimal.

Sharon, just one FYI that could be another option for you, they let Ryan get three IV's on Day 4 so that he only needed one of his final day. So he did an early AM, an afternoon, and an evening IV on Day 4, then did one in the AM of Day 5. The 3-in-1-day on Day 4 was not uncommon according to one of the nurses, in fact she was the one who suggested it. As long as you meet the 6 hour interval rule, this should be another option available to consider.

[sjess]

Kim–

Ouch! :doh:  That sounds very painful. So sorry you had to go through that! I've had an IV put in before so I know it can hurt. Thanks for the info on the infusions and the advice about drinking lots of water. I'll be sure to do that.

Dan–

Thanks for the options you mentioned. Great possibilities to get out of there early. Might do the 3 in one day option if I'm up to it. I know I will be wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible Friday. Thanks for mentioning that.

So is it 6 hours from the time you started the IV or 6 hours from the time you got done with the IV?

Thanks again for all your help. I'm feeling a little more prepared now.

[Dan_M]

[user=1956]sjess[/user] wrote:

Thanks for the options you mentioned. Great possibilities to get out of there early. Might do the 3 in one day option if I'm up to it. I know I will be wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible Friday. Thanks for mentioning that.

So is it 6 hours from the time you started the IV or 6 hours from the time you got done with the IV?

Thanks again for all your help. I'm feeling a little more prepared now.

I believe it's 6 hours from the time you get done. Like Kim said, most people are done in 20 minutes.

I second your sympathy for Kim. It must have been very uncomfortable getting poked with a needle each time she went in. 🙁 Hopefully you will be able to handle the port. Just remember to keep it dry. Ryan used Saran Wrap to cover his when he showered. You can bring some from home or you can pick some up at that Dollar Store that's not far from the motel. That little store comes in very handy. 🙂

[sjess]

[user=1465]Dan_M[/user] wrote:

Ryan used Saran Wrap to cover his when he showered. You can bring some from home or you can pick some up at that Dollar Store that's not far from the motel. That little store comes in very handy. 🙂

Yes, I understand. Our little town is the same way. We just got our Dollar General a few years ago and that has been a real blessing. Small town prices are pretty high and the selection is low. The Dollar store has filled a niche we needed filled.

Thanks for the info about the Saran Wrap. This information is so helpful!!!!! I really appreciate it.

Sharon  :blush:

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