The 2.5 litre bag infuses over 18 hours each day, with additional fluid bags in between if I feel dry as I’m completely nil by mouth. The bag itself is connected to a portable infusion pump which I whack into a backpack and go about my day! I have 6 hours off (freedom!) however the nearer ‘food’ time gets the more I can’t function till I get some sugar going through ma veinsss.

The human body isn’t made to be fed this way, so it does come with side effects like fatigue, deficiency’s and can cause problems with various organs. TPN is only used in the absolute worst-case scenarios, the risks and complications are huge, but these are outweighed when the body can no longer digest and absorb the nutrients it needs to survive.

The set up to attach and unattach requires a very strict non touch sterile technique. Only nurses who have been trained are allowed to touch my line (very few) and I too have been trained so I can independently do it myself. Every time you use the line, you have a risk of developing sepsis. Living life on a line, literally.

TPN has given me a some quality of life back. My digestive problems left me in severe constant pain, housebound and on a few occasions left emaciated to the point where I was at risk of dying, but that’s another story. I’m finally at a healthy weight, my pain is manageable, and some normality has returned for my family and  I. TPN comes at a cost, having 8 bouts of sepsis has taken a toll and TPN does have its limitations, but I’ve managed to live more of a life with it than without it fo sho! All about that quality of life ✌️