IV Fluid Saline

[Rene T]

My wife was scheduled to have the ablation procedure done on her heart today . This was scheduled last June. Last Friday, she got a call saying that it was cancelled and the person did not elaborate as to why. I did a bunch of research and found out finally that there is a huge shortage of IV solution (saline). A company called Baxter out of NC is one of the biggest distributors of saline in the country. Well that facility got destroyed or damaged pretty bad during the hurricane Helene three weeks ago. So now hospitals are scrambling to find saline for their surgeries.
My wife has AFIB and it was considered her to be elective surgery. It’s urgent but not a dire emergency so now she is waiting for a call to reschedule. Hopefully it will be soon because we want to head south to FL around the middle of November. Starting to get cold here at night. May go down to 32 tomorrow night. Brrrrr!
Anyone else have this problem as far as the ivy?

 

[John From Detroit]

I've had that procedure twice. first time it worked.. 2nd time it did not. So I still have A-fib.. Had it for a decade now.. Still typing. I am a little .... limited.... In what I can do. But mostly due to other causes.

 

[Rene T]

Why did you have it done a 2nd time if the 1st time worked?
I had it some 25 years ago and never had any issues. Occasionally I might feel a slight change in my heart beat but it goes away a couple of seconds later. That may happen once every couple of months

 

[Tulecreeper]

That factory in NC produces 60% of the country's IV solutions.

 

[Tom]

I heard last evening from a friend who has home dialysis, after previously having a kidney removed. A fluid that's used in the process is not available due to the Baxter issue.

During my research last night and this morning, I read that there was a shortage in 2022 due to covid, but recovery from the apparent loss of the plant might take a lot of creative (alternative) sourcing.

 

[msw3113]

Related CBS News article here

 

[Jackiemac]

I hope she gets her op soon. I know it must be very frustrating for you both.

 

[triplethreat]

My wife had Mitral Valve Prolapse (discovered in her teen years), but it wasn't bad enough to be concerned with until later on in life. Then she also developed AFib and when you combine the two, it increases your chance of heart failure/stroke dramatically. So in Nov. of 2021, she had Mitral Valve repair and while he was in there doing that, he performed an Ablation to treat the AFib. Both surgeries were successful and she is living a very normal life with zero issues related to her heart. She does an annual cardiologist visit and her most recent one (this past Monday) she was told that everything looks perfect and she is good for another year.

The only "abnormal" issues we had to deal with at the time of her surgery was the Covid pandemic and all the protocols in place at that time......we were very fortunate and are very thankful for the results.

 

[workinonit]

Baxter Labs had a big facility near me that did the same thing. They closed that up years ago to down size. I expect we will be getting Chinese saline at some point.

 

[Oldgator73]

Baxter Labs had a big facility near me that did the same thing. They closed that up years ago to down size. I expect we will be getting Chinese saline at some point.

Won’t be able to afford Chinese saline; you know, tariffs.

 

[Rene T]

Won’t be able to afford Chinese saline; you know, tariffs.

Please don’t make my post political. Thanks.

 

[UTTransplant]

The FDA has approved importation of various solutions made in other Baxter facilities in China, Ireland, and the UK. Not every plant makes all the solutions, so various fluids will come from various locations. The information is on the FDA website and on the Baxter website. FAD is encouraging the use of heplock/saline “things” (I don’t know the official name) that are just the part of the IV that stays in your hand/arm. If you need fluids or other emergency care, they can attach the bag to the indwelling heplock. They used this on me at my pain medicine clinic for my injections and radioablation. That doesn’t help the poor folks who need dialysis fluids though.

 

[Rene T]

Good news today. The hospital scheduler called today and asked if we could be at the hospital on October 29. We said most definitely. I asked if there was any way my DW could be the 1st one that day and she said no problem. We will have to be there at 6:00 AM. Seeing it’s in Boston almost 80 miles away for us, we’re going to leave home at 4:15 AM. At least she won’t have to spend the night.

 

[Arch Hoagland]

That's great news!

Have you ever driven in Boston at that hour of the day? I think I'd leave earlier than 4:15 AM.

 

[Rene T]

That's great news!

Have you ever driven in Boston at that hour of the day? I think I'd leave earlier than 4:15 AM.

According to Google maps, It’s suppose to take 1hour and 19 minutes so we’ll be OK. It will be just before the rush traffic starts.

 

[Oldgator73]

We will have to be there at 6:00 AM. Seeing it’s in Boston almost 80 miles away for us, we’re going to leave home at 4:15 AM.

I would give myself a bit more time. We live in Dover, DE and my wife sees doctors in Baltimore. I always add about thirty minutes to what Google maps tells me. Boston is a lot worse than Baltimore when it comes to traffic.

 

[Rene T]

I would give myself a bit more time. We live in Dover, DE and my wife sees doctors in Baltimore. I always add about thirty minutes to what Google maps tells me. Boston is a lot worse than Baltimore when it comes to traffic.

I understand but I’ve found that 5:00 in the morning, traffic is fairly light

 

[Tulecreeper]

Won’t be able to afford Chinese saline; you know, tariffs.

Beautiful word...tariff.

 

[Tom]

I was following this, partly because of Lucille's issue with IV fluids and partly because of a friend who's home dialysis fluid (dialysate) supply was interrupted. I read that Baxter was able to recover much of their inventory at the affected plant and resumed at least partial deliveries.

In addition to what I read online, the friend talked with Baxter a few days ago and they told him the same thing. His deliveries resumed yesterday, although not yet at 100%. I was amazed that they were able to recover and are supporting their customers.

 

[Wasillaguy]

Was reading that every bag of normal saline has like 8 grams of sodium.
Interesting that they tell everyone to eat less salt, yet saline is often the first thing they pump straight into a patient without knowing anything about their medical history. Paramedics will do it without even speaking to a doctor. If you're in really bad shape they give you 2 bags.
They tell heart patients to severely restrict salt intake and then prescribe a diuretic (salt) and/or lasix (also salt).
And then there's the big book of knowledge-
Leviticus 2:13
“And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.”