Post IV Antibiotics

My second IV antibiotic experience was very different from the first time.  The first time, I took the opportunity to take a break from all of my other responsibilities and just take the time to heal.  I took a lot of time off of work, stayed home and found ways to settle in and heal.  Everything went smooth and the medication worked well at clearing up my lungs and sinuses.

So this time, now I have some experience, I knew what to expect.  I felt like I could go on with life as normal, but just with a few extra responsibilities during the day.  In reality, these treatments are way more complicated than I acknowledged. Even though I tired working during the treatment, it was very tiring.  It was hard to focus. I also was busy during the treatment.  I traveled to Eureka on work and visited a friend in Brentwood, about an hour and a half from my house.  I made plans to meet up with people after work.  Even though the first time all the relaxing seemed unnecessary, this time, it felt like what I really needed was the down time.

Also during this course of treatment, I had an allergic reaction to one of my meds.  It started with flu-like symptoms on Friday July 6,day 12 of my 15 day treatment.  I only worked for about 3 hours because I felt so tired.  I even felt like I was getting a fever, but had a normal temperature.  Then that evening, I injected my med and I started feeling a weird feeling in my throat, like it was swelling.  After I was done with the med, my throat felt sore.  Maybe it was just a cold?  I went to bed not feeling so great.  Woke up for the next treatment, same thing and now I really did have a fever.  With a PICC line and a fever I became nervous about an infection of the line.  Because it was a Saturday, my options where limited as to who I could talk to.  I decided to go to the ER.

Basically, the ER assured me my line was not infected and directed me to discontinue the medication causing problems.  By the time the last dose was out of my system, I felt like there was never anything wrong.  My PICC line was pulled on July 9 and I have been feeling great.

Next time I am going to find a better balance with taking care of myself, resting, relaxing and balancing appointments.  I don't think I need to shut my self out from the world, but I also can't be traveling around and  being on the go all the time either.