Diary of a Crohn’s Flare: Antibiotic Infusion

I established 6 pm as my infusion time and try to infuse the antibiotics between 6 pm and 7 pm every evening.  Because the Benadryl knocks me out, I'm going to slowly move this time back closer to my normal bed time (say 9:30 pm to 10:00 pm).

I am not a medical professional.
I’m providing the steps that I use for infusing antibiotics.  You should follow the directions provided by your health care professional!

Due to the (small) chance of (possibly severe/deadly) allergic reaction to antibiotics I insist that someone observe me while I give myself this infusion.

I have to use Benadryl before each infusion (more on that later).  Benadryl makes me sleepy, REALLY sleepy.  So I do not plan to do anything for a couple of hours after receiving IV Benadryl – I often sleep for 2 hours.  I also try to plan ahead and ensure I’ve done the following before starting the infusion process.

Before starting:

1. Eat
2. Drink
3. Use the restroom
4. Get comfortable

Items needed:

1. Sanitizing wash
2. Alcohol swabs (at least 3)
3. Saline Flush x3
4. Benadryl vial
5. Syringe x2 (one will be used for Benadryl, the other is for epinephrine in case of severe allergic reaction)
6. Epinephrine vial (in case of severe allergic reaction)
7. Antibiotic bulb (stored in refrigerator, but “warmed” for a minimum of 2 hours before use)
8. Heparin flush 

Items used for infusion:

Items needed in case of allergic reaction

In case of any allergic reaction, give Benadryl:

In case of severe allergic reaction, give epinephrine and call 911:

Steps:

1. Wash / Sanitize hands
2. Sterilize PICC line port with alcohol swabs
3. Clear air out of saline flush #1
4. Connect saline flush, open all clamps, and slowly flush out PICC line
5. Load syringe #1 with 0.5 ml (0.25 mg) IV Benadryl (diphenhydramine)
6. Connect Benadryl syringe and inject it over 1-2 minutes
7. Sterilize PICC line port with alcohol swab
8. Clear air out of saline flush #2
9. Connect saline flush #2 and slowly flush out PICC line
10. Connect IV antibiotics
11. Open antibiotics clamp (infusion takes 30-40 minutes)
12. Sterilize PICC line port with alcohol swab
13. Clear air out of saline flush #3
14. Connect saline flush #3 and slowly flush out PICC line
15. Connect Heparin flush and slowly flush out PICC line
16. Close clamps

Getting my IV antibiotic (the bulb does not need to be elevated, I was just playing with it :) )

IVanz IV antibiotic infusion

Saline flush of the PICC line after infusion

Tygacil IV antibiotic infusion.  Not feeling very well anymore.  The rubber chicken is my good luck talisman