Hi Martha,

I had three exchanges the week before my thymectomy in 02 as an out patient. They used the viens in my arms, which I wouldn't reccommed unless you have a lot of them. The first one too an hour, the scond one two and the third about two because my viens were blowing left and right. Using smaller needles and viens slows it down. They used 7 or 8 bottles each time. I don't remember the amounts. I was told to eat a large breakfast before. I felt very dizzy after each one, but I think that had a lot to do with how many times they had to stick me and find new viens. When they ran it too fast they had to stick tums in my mouth to replace the calcium that was being depleted. The day before the surgery I started feeling so good and strong. I'm sure that's why I did so well during and after the surgery. The only thing it didn't help was my double vision, but the mestinon took care of that. Hope this helps. Take care.

Hugs,
Pat