TPN

Today I was able to bear witness to the creation of a TPN. It was really quite a production complete with: adornment of the full get-up - rubber gloves, booties, gowns, hair covers and face masks, as well as use of hands free door openers, a chemical hood, syringes in a variety of shapes and sizes, and tiny vials of assorted solutions. The entire process took a good 15 minutes with 10 minutes of that going to set-up. After all of the vials were precisely laid out under the hood with the appropriate syringes accompanying them, the vials were checked to ensure that they were consistent with the order. The TPN bag was hung and infusion of the dextrose solution was initiated. Next, the various other components - sodium, phosphate, other minerals, and inuslin were injected into the bag. Once the dextrose infusion was complete the amino acids were infused. Upon completion of this, the bag was checked to ensure the absence of "floaters" aka pieces of cork from the vials that may have broken off and accidentally entered the solution. Finally, the milky white lipid solution was added.

Stepping back from the whole experience I found it really strange that this science experiment was going to be one woman's sole source of nourishment.