This should help Babs3169 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intravenous_immunoglobulin

Hi gang - here are some links that Dahlek has found and posted in the past regarding IVIG and are very helpful - please check them out - also - you can Google the name of your speciifc med to find out info just on it....


http://www.news-medical.net/?id=19244

http://www.primaryimmune.org/pubs/nurse_guide_igiv.pdf

http://www.igliving.com/index.html

http://www.infusionsystems.net/artic...UseofIVIG.html

http://qjmed.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/...full/95/11/717

http://www.resourcenurse.com/feature_ivig.html

http://www.iggamerica.com/control/Co...px?target=FAQs

http://ruralnurseorganization-dl.sli...lain-barre.htm

These are very helpful! There are various types of IVIG - from dry forms that have to be mixed - liquid forms that have to be diluted - liquid forms poured straight into bags, etc... Your dose depends on your condition and amount recieved also based on body weight... your doctor will order the infusion rate, amount, and type of IVIG, based on each individual. Each persons treatment will vary in regards to these elements...

Thanks Dahlek!:)

Wow, lots of info.

Thank you very very much.

Melody

y'all are like having our very own google! LOL
I'm just sitting here.....waiting till my nurse arrives at 12:30ish. I haven't had any pain meds since yesterday morning! It's SO nice not to have to take it and feel groggy from it! My insurance has approved the IVIG till Jan....so I hope by then I'll be doing much better!
How are y'all today???

Roxie, that is ...
 

Well, gosh durn it! Exactly the way it should be!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
While you may feel as if your life is going to be 'tethered' to the 'line' in the future, well, If you go and read IGLiving 'stories' I think you will learn that you are a small part [ONE] of a much larger community! There are others who need IVIG, and it's the kids and those much, much senior to us all that are the heros to me Access for them is harder and much more necessary.

So, I am 'tied to a 'line' two days a month for a while...Because I am, I can function, walk and not be totally crabby! It's a good deal to have a 'line' hooked up and feel better, unlike folks who get chemo?

Roxie or Babs, if you have any extra questions after reading all the stuff Kmeb posted...well, I've more technical resources of info in you want to know.
Keep in mind I am not a contributor nor anyway involved in IG-living....tho I do think their E-zine is neat as one doesn't have to have PAPER lying around to find out stuff. With my PN I find it difficult to turn pages...can't feel them to turn them! Scrolling down the puter screen is more my speed these days..
BESIDES THE THING IS FREE!!!!!!!! Read learn ask questions...Hugs! - j

Hi Roxie.

It's like 100 outside right now. That's why I have no arthritis pain. Everybody is walking in the street pouring bottles of water on their bodies and I'm perfectly fine. I could live in the Sahara Desert and I wouldn't have any pain.

Alan got the CAM WALKER yesterday at the new podiatrist we are seeing. He gave us a sample of regranex and every morning I am to change the dressing, apply a dollup of the Regranex (this thing is $500 a tube by the way). It is supposed to speed up wound healing. And since Alan has had this foot ulcer for 18 months, I think he's entitled to this, right??

So he is in this black boot thing up to his knee. You should see him put this thing on!!! It's got Velcro Straps like I've never seen. It's a big black thing and it has a pump (but Alan's not pumping because he can't feel stuff in his feet, so the doctor said "do not pump". Not that I understand why one would pump this thing anyway!!!!

So we just went for a walk to do some errands. You should see Alan walk in this thing!! He walks better in this contraption than when he had the oft loading shoe. So we go back to the new podiatrist next week, he'll check his ulcer and then we shall see. He said it has to be completely healed before Alan takes this boot thing off.

Here's the boot that Alan is now wearing:

http://www.sammonspreston.com/Supply...af_Id=55988501

Now I don't know if this is exactly the same thing he's wearing but it looks exactly the same. It has a rocking motion to it. Have no idea why.

What a difference between this thing and the oft loading shoe. Like night and day. That shoe didnt do anything for Alan's ulcer.

Now this thing. Alan is walking straighter, he's not leaning to the right side (like he did with the oft loading shoe). He has shin pads and something over the front of his foot. I'll tell you, when they came into the office and showed us this thing, I said "now what on earth is this". Seems people use this when they have broken ankles (remember, years ago, they put you in a cast??). I have no idea if they still do but now you can get this Cam Walker thing and you can actually walk around. Takes the pressure off the ulcer and it stablizes the foot (Or something to that effect).

We actually came home on the train and a bus and today we went on a bus. Alan (so far) has had no adverse reaction to wearing this thing.

And I don't have to wait on him hand and foot like I did with the oft-loading shoe. I feel we threw away $150.00 on that darn shoe.

Oh well, hopefully the insurance will cover this contraption. One can only hope.

So hope you are having a good infusion day. Alan has his next infusion on Aug 14.

Be well

Melody

I could propose to ...
 

TEST you all on this, as in a quiz in three days?
Would that do for all?
Good thoughts and pain free moments! - j

Alan's new boot
 

Hi Melody:

That new boot looks like something out of Star Wars! Judging from the curved sole it must sort of "rock" when walked on? I sure hope this helps Alan's wound to finally heal. He has been dealing with that so long. Is it hard to walk on this thing?

Isn't his other shoe called "off" loading? I looked it up on the Internet because didn't get the "oft" loading part. Was that a typo on your part, kiddo? I think in one post you did spell it "off". The "oft" spelling really puzzled me as to how the boot worked to keep pressure off the wound. So sorry you guys had to lay out so much money and then the thing didn't even work for Alan. ARRGH.

Here's hoping this new boot will do the job. Sure looks hot for summer. Would this also be called a "walking cast" for a broken bone?

Shirley H.

They are also used for people with broken tibias so that they can walk and put weight on the bones which is necessary for healing.

Yeah, I'm stupid today. It's an off loading shoe. Guess I'm trying to sound proper!!! lol

Alan is walking just fine with this contraption. It rocks.

Now why it has a rocker bottom, instead of being perfecly flat, well, I have no clue. But it's far and away MUCH superior to that $150 off loading shoe he was wearing. That thing had absolutely no support and when Alan walked into the doctor's office wearing the off loading shoe, I looked down and I said "oh my god, you are leaning all the way to the right, why are you doing that?" and Alan said "I guess I'm just favoring this side so I don't put any weight on the ulcer" and I said 'but there's a little hole where your ulcer is laying right in" Now I don't know why my husband's foot was all the way to the right side. It's like he was walking on the right side of his right foot, so as not to lean on the ulcer.

But with this shoe boot contraption, he walks like a regular person. But the bottom has a curve so it's like a rocker.

Have no clue, but at least he can walk better.

So his appointment is next week. WE are using the regranex (started this morning). You should have seen me take this expensive little tube out of the fridge and take a little dollop and put it on his ulcer, then all kind of gauze sponges and bandages. I'm a regular nurse after 18 months of dressings and saline washes.

Hope all of you are okay.

We are roasting here in NYC.

Melody